Bexar County Misdemeanor Veterans Treatment Court

Bexar County, Texas is a predominately working-class south Texas community of more than two million individuals. The Bexar County Misdemeanor Veterans Treatment Court is applying for a Category 2: Enhancement Grant. It is principally a pre-adjudication program with a small number of participants who are post-adjudication. Bexar County is requesting $1,000,000 over the course of four years. The Court has an active caseload of 180 individuals and this grant will touch upwards of 500 individuals over the course of the four-year grant period. The average length of stay in the program is 12 months however it is not uncommon for individuals to remain in the program for up to 15 months depending on progress and or setbacks.

The target population are veterans of the armed forces as well as active-duty military personnel of the United States of America to include those in the Reserves and National Guard. These individuals must have a pending misdemeanor offense in Bexar County; be a resident of Bexar County or an adjacent county; have a brain injury (i.e. traumatic brain injury); and/or a behavioral health disorder (including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, or substance use disorder). Veterans with a history of violent offenses such as assault with bodily injury are included.

The participants of the Veterans Treatment Court have access to an array of treatment options to include Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) such as Suboxone, Naloxone, Buprenorphine and Methadone. With grant funding, Bexar County would like to build the treatment court team as well as expand the treatment options for the target population. Moreover, the Court would like to participate in the larger national study being conducted by American University in which screening and assessment tools are normed, standardized, and developed for veterans treatment court teams across the country.