San Mateo County Superior Court Veteran's Court Enhancement Project

The San Mateo Superior Court (The Court) seeks BJA Veterans Treatment Court Enhancement funds (Category 2) in the amount of $455,232.00 to augment our Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) Program over a period of 48 months. This funding will be used to enhance our ability to provide evidence based targeted case management services consonant with Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standard VI for to up to 35 clients at any given time. Assuming normal (pre-Covid) operations, the program anticipates serving approximately 110 individuals over the period of the grant.

            The VTC will accomplish this enhancement by implementing a validated risk/need assessment consonant with Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standard I. We will also hire a dedicated case manager, who will administer the assessment and share its results with the VTC treatment team so they may make more evidence based decisions about who to admit to the program. Once a client is admitted, the case manager will use information gathered from the assessment to formulate a service plan in collaboration with the client. The case manager will then manage referrals to service providers. The service plan will be sequenced based on the priority needs of the client. Areas of particular need in San Mateo County are housing and transportation. The case manager will work with the Steering Committee to identify service gaps and may broker relationships with new service providers. The VTC expects to see fewer clients with unmet service needs. This will, in turn, translate to a higher graduation rate, faster completion time, and reduced programmatic noncompliance.

            The VTC has been serving veterans residing in San Mateo County, California on a post adjudication basis since 2016. The Court was established with the assistance of a Bureau of Justice Assistance Implementation Grant. It was sustained upon the expiration of funds and has not requested any additional grant funding to date. The VTC proudly serves current and former members of the United States Armed Forces who have become involved in the criminal justice system due to factors stemming from their military service. These factors include military sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, and traumatic brain injury. Sex offenders and seriously violent offenders are excluded from participation.

            The program is designed to last eighteen months which is the average program length. Participants are expected to complete the program within a maximum of twenty-four months Participation beyond this time is permissible as long as the client is benefitting and not compromising the integrity of the program. It can be completed in as few as sixteen months for a motivated, engaged client.