Las Vegas Justice Court Veterans Treatment Court Enhancement Program

Category 2: Enhancement The Las Vegas Justice Court, Veterans Treatment Court (LVJC-VTC) is a pre-adjudication program for veterans who have become involved in the criminal justice system who have treatment needs that stem from their time in military service or their transition from military to civilian life. The total federal amount requested for the Category 2: Enhancement is $750,000 over 48 months (10/1/22-9/30/26). This funding will support resource identification, resource and care connection and coordination, the establishment and implementation of a mentor program, training for VTC personnel, a needs assessment, and research and evaluation for evidence-based program improvement, and the creation of a sustainability plan. To accomplish these goals, one full-time Care Coordinator and one part-time mentor coordinator will be hired, three VTC team members will attend the NADCP conference each year, and the LVJC-VTC has partnered a research and evaluation team with VTC subject matter expertise.  LVJC-VTC is a minimum length of 12 months (by statute) with no maximum length imposed. The average length of program participation is 12 to 15 months. MAT services are provided through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and community agencies that are state certified contracted through the courts. The LVJC-VTC utilizes the MAST, DAST, and ASAM to evaluate/diagnose SUD and determine level of care. The ADTP at the VA and partner agencies who are licensed to administer SUD treatment to provide treatment services for SUD, including opioids and stimulants. The proposed enhancements directly align with several key components of VTCs, specifically key components #1 (integration), #4 (access), #6 (coordinated strategy), #8 (monitoring and evaluation), #9 (education), and #10 (partnerships).  The table on Pages 3 illustrates the alignment of the proposed enhancements with these key components. Discussion of how the LVJC-VTC’s operations align with NADCP’s Best Practice Standards can be found in the Narrative on Page 5 (#1), Page 6 (#2, #3, #4), Page 7 (#9, #10, Page 10 (#5, #7), Page 13 (#9, #10, #2), Page 15 (#6, #8), and Page 16 (#6). LVJC-VTC previously obtained a BJA grant (2019–VC–BX-0088) for additional inpatient treatment services (ends 9/30/22). However, the currently proposed project for FY2022 does not support the continuation or duplication of these services.