Rockingham County Veterans Treatment Court Planning and Implementation

The current project seeks federal funds over 48 months for Planning and Implementation (Category 1) of the Rockingham County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Rockingham County VTC is proposed to be a minimum 14-month post-plea program that serves justice involved veterans (JIVs) who are: charged with a felony or misdemeanor, are high risk per the Risk and Needs Triage (RANT), and have a substance use or mental health need. Program participants will have access to all forms of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications to treat substance use disorder and accompanying behavioral health services through either the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or community behavioral health providers. The program is seeking consideration for Priority 2 to provide evidence-based substance use and/or mental health services for JIVs who are not eligible for Veterans Health Administration services or who cannot access VA services due to transportation or access issues. The county has recently implemented the use of Veterans Re-Entry Search Services with the detention center. Based upon preliminary data, the program seeks to provide services to 48 unique individuals across the life the grant. The program is not leveraging the use of any additional federal funds and does not have any active treatment court grants with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The current project seeks funding to: hire a full time Coordinator to provide case management and coordination of day-to-day operations; provide continuing education to new and current VTC team members; provide comprehensive drug and alcohol testing for participants; provide evidence-based substance use and mental health services to veterans who cannot or do not have access to VA resources; address housing and transportation needs; and partner with an evaluation team who will support data collection, analysis, and research on program outcomes and monitor equity in referrals, admission, program experiences, and outcomes.