The first Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) was started in Buffalo, New York in 2008,
after Judge Robert Russell noticed an increase in the number of veterans appearing on his
dockets. He created the structure of VTCs, including the mentoring component of Veterans
helping Veterans. In 2009, the V.A. implemented the VJO (Veterans Justice Outreach) Program that
paired V.A. social workers to courts to assist justice-involved veterans. In 2019, the Van Wert County
municipal court learned of VTC’s and started collecting data that showed the number
of Veterans in the court justified the implementation of a VTC and started planning.
The Honorable Judge Jill T. Worthington volunteered to preside over the program and
named it “Van Wert Veterans Court” to reduce the stigma of those entering a “treatment
court. In 2020, the Veterans Court Team expanded to include service providers from the
community. In 2021, Veterans Court became certified by the Ohio Supreme Court as a specialized
docket and started unofficially mentoring new VTCs in implementation of policy, procedure,
and building a strong mentor program
As of 2020, there are over 460 VTCs in our country with hundreds more in the
planning stages—25 in Ohio. Veterans Court enjoys a 67% success rate, 5% felony recidivism
rate.
Racial and Ethical Disparity
Specialized Treatment Courts have been credited with helping to alleviate unfair
disparities in the incarceration of racial and ethnic minority citizens for
drug-related offenses. These specialized dockets around the country perform their duties without
manifestation, by word or conduct, of bias or prejudice based upon race, gender,
national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, language or
socioeconomic status.
Treatment Courts are, first and foremost, courts, charged with safeguarding and
advancing the constitutional rights of all citizens to due process and equal protection under
the law and have an affirmative obligation to take reasonable actions to prevent or
correct any racial or ethnic disparities that may be found to exist by:
Adopting evidence-based assessment tools, treatments and other interventions
that have been proven through scientific research to produce equivalent or
superior effects for racial and ethnic minority individuals; and
Ensuring that all personnel involved in the Treatment Court have received
up-to-date training on how to identify and administer evidence-based,
culturally sensitive and culturally competent interventions and assessment tools.
Individuals who have historically experienced sustained discrimination or reduced
social opportunities because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, sexual
identity, physical or mental disability, religion, or socioeconomic status receive
the same opportunities as other individuals to participate and succeed in Veterans
Court.
Mission Statement
The Van Wert Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is committed to addressing the unique
mental health, physical and substance abuse related needs of our veterans by providing a
judge supervised intensive treatment program that creates access to an array of services
within the community with the intent of promoting self-sufficiency, reducing recidivism,
promoting public safety, and providing an alternative to incarceration.
