Senate Hearing Examines Veterans Treatment Courts as Model for Justice-Involved Veterans

Published: April 16, 2026
Source: Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearing

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With more than 100,000 American veterans currently incarcerated in the United States, advocates told a Senate panel Wednesday that expanding Veterans Treatment Courts and restoring access to VA healthcare for imprisoned former service members could dramatically reduce recidivism while addressing the root causes that lead veterans into the criminal justice system.

The hearing before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee brought together judges, veterans, legal scholars, and criminal justice reform advocates to examine how specialized courts designed for former service members might serve as a template for broader reforms. Their testimony painted a picture of a system that too often fails veterans during the crucial transition from military to civilian life, then compounds those failures by cutting off access to the very services that might prevent future offenses.

From 'Hero to Villain'

Corey Schramm, an Army veteran who deployed three times to Iraq, described to senators how post-traumatic stress disorder led him down a path that ended in arrest following a blackout involving a weapon. Before finding the Veterans Treatment Court in Kansas, Schramm had cycled through probation multiple times without addressing the underlying trauma driving his behavior.

"I was on and off probation before I went to Veterans Treatment Court, and when I showed up, I thought I was going to play the system, go through the motions," Schramm testified. "Boy was I ever wrong."

Instead of incarceration, Schramm spent two years in a program that combined intensive treatment for PTSD with mentorship from fellow veterans and close judicial supervision. The experience, he told the committee, saved not just his life but his family. "VTC is not a shortcut," he emphasized, pushing back against characterizations of such programs as lenient. "It's harder than regular court because you're actually dealing with your stuff."

Former Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, himself a Marine veteran, shared a story from one of the first graduates of the Johnson County Veterans Treatment Court. The combat veteran told Nuss he would "have been better off being killed in Afghanistan instead of coming home and being arrested for committing a violent crime." The man described his shame as going "from hero to villain."

"This justice-involved veteran suffered from unhealed PTSD," Nuss testified. "As has been said about such veterans, the painful paradox is that fighting for one's country can render one unfit to be its citizen."

The Veterans Treatment Court Model

The first Veterans Treatment Court opened in Buffalo, New York, in 2008, created specifically to address the growing number of former service members entering the criminal justice system with service-connected mental health conditions or substance use disorders. The model combines the structure of drug courts and mental health courts with veterans-specific resources, including mentorship from volunteer veterans, connections to VA services, and treatment protocols designed for military-related trauma.

Today, more than 600 such courts operate across the country, supported by hundreds of Veterans Justice Officers employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These specialized courts typically handle non-violent offenses where the defendant's criminal conduct appears connected to conditions like PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or substance use disorders stemming from military service.

Participants undergo intensive supervision that includes regular court appearances, treatment sessions, drug testing, and check-ins with veteran mentors who have themselves navigated the challenges of military transition. Successful completion often results in reduced charges or dismissed cases, but the programs are rigorous — Nuss noted that of the 89 veterans who have graduated from Kansas VTC programs over the past decade, only five have been subsequently arrested, a 95 percent success rate.

The Benefits Barrier

Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of Veterans Treatment Courts, advocates told the committee that many eligible veterans never make it into these programs because they lack access to the VA services that would support their recovery. The barrier often stems from discharge characterization — veterans who received general or other-than-honorable discharges, frequently due to behavioral issues stemming from undiagnosed mental health conditions, find themselves ineligible for most VA benefits.

The problem deepens for veterans who are incarcerated. Under current VA regulations, disability compensation is reduced when a veteran is convicted of a felony and incarcerated for more than 60 days, and VA healthcare benefits stop entirely when a veteran enters a state or federal prison health system. For veterans whose criminal behavior resulted from untreated service-connected conditions, this creates a cruel irony: the very trauma that contributed to their offense becomes the reason they cannot access specialized treatment while imprisoned.

Rose Carmen Goldberg, director of the Veterans Clinic at the University of Washington School of Law, testified that this gap in care has measurable, tragic consequences. "Access to VA mental healthcare can literally be lifesaving," she told senators. "Veterans with a less-than-honorable discharge who are unable to access VA mental healthcare have a significantly elevated risk of suicide, a difference that disappears if they gain access."

Goldberg supports legislation introduced by Senator Angus King of Maine and Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska that would restore VA behavioral healthcare access for incarcerated veterans. The Get Justice-Involved Veterans Behavioral Assistance and Care for Key Health Outcomes to Maintain Empowerment Act — the JACK HOME Act — would allow imprisoned veterans to receive VA mental health services through telehealth, connecting them with clinicians who understand military-specific trauma rather than relying solely on prison mental health systems that may lack such expertise.

"VA-furnished mental healthcare is critical because it is more effective than private sector care for veterans with service-connected conditions," Goldberg explained. "These clinicians understand combat-related mental health issues, military sexual trauma, and the unique culture of military service that shapes how veterans experience and express psychological distress."

Breaking the Cycle Before It Starts

Advocates emphasized that the most effective intervention occurs before a veteran ever encounters law enforcement. Several panelists focused on the inadequacy of the Defense Department's Transition Assistance Program, the mandatory briefing service members complete before leaving the military.

According to retired Army Brigadier General David MacEwen, director of the Veterans Justice Commission at the Council on Criminal Justice, the Defense Department spends billions annually on recruiting and training but just millions on preparing service members for civilian life. A commission he led found that TAP failed to prepare 44 percent of attendees for transition, and 22 percent of transitioning service members never attended the program at all.

"The result is a fragmented and under-resourced system that leaves too many service members ill-prepared for civilian life," MacEwen testified. "This lack of preparation increases their vulnerability to involvement in the criminal justice system."

The transition challenges are particularly acute for veterans who enlisted young, spending their formative adult years in a highly structured military environment with clear hierarchies, defined expectations, and built-in social support. The sudden shift to civilian life — with its ambiguous structures, complex bureaucracies, and lack of built-in community — can prove disorienting, especially for those carrying invisible wounds from their service.

MacEwen also pressed for reforms to GI Bill eligibility that would restore benefits for veterans with less-than-honorable discharges, noting that the original 1944 legislation explicitly made all veterans except those with dishonorable discharges eligible for education benefits. Over subsequent decades, VA regulations narrowed this access in ways that Congress never intended, excluding hundreds of thousands of veterans whose discharge status resulted from behavioral symptoms of untreated mental health conditions rather than genuine misconduct.

Congressional Action and Investment

Committee Chairman Jerry Moran of Kansas, who convened Wednesday's hearing, has already secured legislative victories for the Veterans Treatment Court movement. In January, Congress approved his bill to fully fund Veterans Treatment Courts and provided $4 million to establish a National Center for Veterans Justice to support research, training, and best practices for these specialized courts.

"We need to make sure that veterans who carry scars, with wounds — visible and invisible — are not forgotten," Moran said during the hearing. He emphasized that while not every veteran convicted of a crime would be appropriate for diversion programs, those whose offenses stem from service-connected conditions deserve opportunities for treatment rather than pure punishment.

The hearing also highlighted the patchwork nature of Veterans Treatment Court availability. While 600 courts represent significant growth from the single Buffalo court operating eighteen years ago, many jurisdictions still lack such programs entirely. In areas where they do exist, law enforcement and court personnel may be unaware of their existence, leading veterans to be processed through standard criminal courts that lack the specialized resources to address their underlying needs.

The Stakes of Inaction

The statistics underlying Wednesday's testimony underscore the urgency of reform. With over 100,000 veterans incarcerated on any given day, and countless more cycling through jails and probation systems, the criminal justice system has become an unintended repository for veterans whose mental health and substance use disorders went untreated after their service ended.

For veterans with opioid use disorder, the stakes are particularly high. Research consistently shows that medication-assisted treatment reduces overdose mortality by more than 50 percent compared to no treatment, yet veterans who lose VA benefits upon incarceration may find themselves in prison systems that do not offer such evidence-based care. Upon release, the combination of reduced tolerance from periods of abstinence and return to environments where drug use is prevalent creates extraordinarily elevated overdose risk.

The advocates who testified Wednesday argued that Veterans Treatment Courts represent a proven alternative to this cycle — an approach that recognizes the unique circumstances of veteran defendants while holding them accountable for their actions. The programs are not lenient, participants emphasized, but they are smart, addressing the conditions that drive criminal behavior rather than simply warehousing individuals whose underlying problems remain untreated.

As Congress considers the JACK HOME Act and other reforms, the testimony offered a clear message: the nation asks extraordinary sacrifices of those who serve in uniform, and when those experiences leave psychological scars that manifest in criminal behavior, the response should be treatment and restoration rather than simple punishment. The Veterans Treatment Court model, honed over nearly two decades and now operating in hundreds of jurisdictions, offers a template for how that restoration might work — if the resources and political will exist to expand it.

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If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information. Veterans can also reach the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988 and pressing 1.