Veterans Treatment Court Risk and Need Enhancement Initiative

The proposed project will accomplish the following goals over a 3-year period (October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2025): Enhance and validate the VTC Risk and Needs Assessment Tool for full implementation, provide VTC and criminal justice professionals with resources needed to use research-based tools to assess the risk and need of JIVs, increase their capacity to assess veterans’ risk and need, and better connect them with effective interventions to reduce recidivism and increase access to critical treatment and recovery support services. To do so, the proposed project is designed to meet four objectives and produce several deliverables. The objectives include: (1) Ensure the creation of a rigorous and feasible tool by convening a multidisciplinary committee of subject matter experts to guide, inform, and advise the finalization and validation of the VTC Risk and Needs Assessment Tool for distribution to the field; (2) Identify additional pilot sites and provide them with TTA to test the usefulness of the VTC Risk and Needs Assessment Tool, as well as obtain the data necessary for tool validation; (3) Use feedback to enhance the current RNR training and tools for finalization; and (4) Prepare a final VTC Risk and Needs Assessment Tool and training curricula ready to be used in the field.

The description of the Program Design and Implementation is organized categories of deliverables and objectives. These include: Expertise/Experience/Perspective; Tool Validation; Tool Utility/Tool Training/RNR Training; Work Plans/Issue Identification/Project Management; Ongoing Collaboration and Coordination; and Knowledge Diffusion.

The AU team is highly skilled and competent with extensive and varied (but project-relevant) expertise and experience. The AU Team is comprised of six subject matter experts with military, court, academic, and clinical backgrounds. Additionally, the tool developer and program coordinator from earlier phases of the VTC-RNEI will also serve on the team in technical, coordination, and support capacities.

The AU Team will produce final versions of: (1) Short Screener: Online Tool, Hardcopy; (2) Comprehensive Assessment: Online Tool, Hardcopy; (3) Case Planning Protocols; (4) RNR Training: Video, Slides, and Pre/Post-Tests; (5) Tool Training: Video, User Guide, FAQs, Scoring Exercise with Mock Interview, and Individualized Training Agendas; (6) Tool Data Repository. The AU Team also proposes the production of the following deliverables: (7) Utility Final Report; (8) Validation Final Report; (9) Executive Summary; (10) Site Initiatives Spreadsheet; (11) Conference Presentation(s); (12) Fact Sheets; and (13) Infographics.