TPC Journal V7, Issue 3 - FULL ISSUE

254 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 3 in which compliance to program requirements and overall program success can be quantified through drug testing and analysis of available data, including re-arrest rates. More complicated are issues facing participants in other specialty courts, such as the veterans treatment courts. Veterans Treatment Courts As of 2010, the United States had deployed approximately 1.9 million service members to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq (Rizzo et al., 2011). Conflicts from the Middle East have left the United States with over 40,000 wounded (Rizzo et al., 2011) and over 350,000 service members with traumatic brain injury (Baldwin, 2016). As the United States continues to conduct military operations around the world, the need exists to address the specific concerns of veterans returning to non-combat duties. Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) are now addressing, via the drug court model, various needs of this population (Slattery, Dugger, Lamb, & Williams, 2013). The first VTC was established in 2004 in Anchorage, Alaska, but the model from which most programs are built is the one established in Buffalo, New York, in 2007–2008 (Baldwin, 2016). Issues the counselor may face with participants in VTCs include post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, military sexual trauma, major depression, and neuropsychological problems (Eisen et al., 2012), as well as homelessness and unemployment issues (Baldwin, 2016). In addition to services available to participants in other specialty courts, VTCs are designed and built recognizing differing needs of supervision and support, including cooperation with the Veterans Administration (VA) and other service members (Russell, 2015). Connections the VTCs have through the VA make a difference for participants, who rely heavily on the VA for benefits. VA connections cannot easily be replaced or replicated and are scarce in many locales (Clark, McGuire, & Blue-Howells, 2014). VTCs also differ from many other specialty courts in that they have a peer-mentoring component. Mentoring is the use of previous program participants and other service members in a peer-support role, similar to their use in 12-step programs as part of a successful drug treatment protocol. Mentoring is more important for this population because of the military’s highly structured culture and the importance of respect for others with military experience (Clark et al., 2014; Russell, 2015). Like other specialty courts, VTCs have some variance in those eligible for participation. VTCs often limit participation to those with certain mental health diagnoses or substance abuse issues and to those who are not charged with a felony or violent crime. Eligibility also may be restricted to only those deployed to a combat zone or only those who are eligible for VA benefits. Funding for VTCs is different than that of other specialty courts, which rely on local sources of funding. VTCs get most of their funding through the VA (Russell, 2015), which operates through strict guidelines. In fact, VA guidelines currently limit the role of counselors, preferring instead services performed by psychiatrists and psychologists—a slightly different perspective than one seen in mental health courts. Mental Health Courts The first mental health court was introduced in the late 1990s in Broward County, Florida (Linhorst et al., 2009), and by 2010 there were over 200 operating in the United States (Fisler, 2015; Hughes & Peak, 2012). Individuals enter the court system through arrest, usually for minor offenses (Hnatow, 2015; Walsh & Holt, 1999). Mental health courts differ from drug courts in the wider variety of conditions that must be addressed and the greater degree of treatment individualization available for participants. More robust measurement of program success is required as well. In drug court, success can be measured by length of time spent in sobriety. In mental health court, the variety of