Specifications include, but are not limited to: General Scope The Washington County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) offers eligible veterans facing criminal charges the opportunity to enter a comprehensive treatment and sentencing alternative court program for an underlying substance use and/or co-occurring mental health disorder.; Target Population VTC targets all veterans who are eligible to receive VA healthcare benefits, have been charged with a crime in Washington County, who have an underlying substance use or mental health disorder.; Program Model Eligible participants will be identified and referred by Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists (VJOS), jail deputies, probation officers, defense attorneys, deputy district attorneys, judges and other VTC team members. The VTC probation officer will assess the risk/need level of the veteran and the VJOS will determine the veteran’s eligibility for VA healthcare benefits. The VTC Deputy District Attorney will review the referral materials and make a recommendation to the VTC team, who will then determine the range of sentencing options for the veteran focused on treatment and recovery. After discussing the options with a defense attorney and choosing to participate, the veteran will report to the Portland VA Health Care System, be screened for treatment needs, and begin recommended treatment immediately. VTC is a four or five phase (depending on the assigned track – Bravo or Alpha) structured platform that links participants with an individualized system of care, vet-to-vet peer mentoring, and other community support and resources. Portland VA Health Care System does not offer a stand-alone responsible thinking focused curriculum that is not specifically tied to substance misuse. Consequently, VTC needs to offer a responsible thinking specific program, which has already been selected, by contracting with a provider that can deliver weekly, open-format group facilitation, and adhere to the fidelity of the selected curriculum. It is estimated that up to 25 VTC participants will require the responsible thinking curriculum each year.
