U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Veterans Treatment Court Program

© corgarashu/Shutterstock.com (see reuse policy).

Resources

Program Deliverables

The goal of the VTC Initiative is to develop, and take to scale, a set of evidence-based screening and assessment tools, and case planning protocols for veteran treatment courts. Below are links to the current versions of program deliverables:

  • VET-S Short Screener: Short pre-adjudication screening tool will be used to identify veterans as they enter the justice system and measure their risk of re-offending prior to case disposition. This tool will help courts and criminal justice professionals to appropriately identify veterans early and promptly connect them to a veterans treatment court.
  • VET-Q Comprehensive Assessment: Comprehensive risk-need assessment tool will allow VTC staff to learn more about individuals’ needs and criminogenic risk factors. This information will help VTCs confirm participant eligibility.
  • User Guide: Document is comprised of two sections. The first section of the User Guide includes a general summary of the administrative guidelines for the tools. The second section provides specific guidance on how to score individual questions.
  • Online VTC Screening and Assessment Tool Training

Publications

Drug Treatment Courts Flyer, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Institute of Justice, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Updated annually, this brief presents an overview of treatment courts across the country.

Adult Treatment Court Best Practice Standards, All Rise. The second edition of the Standards incorporates best practices discerned over the past decade in a range of adult treatment court models, addresses frequently asked questions from the field, builds on the experiences and observations of All Rise faculty and audiences, and provides in-depth commentary and practical tips to help programs implement best practices in their day-to-day operations.

Ten Key Components of Veterans Treatment Courts, Justice for Vets, March 2017. Modeled after the adult drug court key components, these key components provide the foundation for the successful operation of a veterans treatment court.

Drug Court Review: Veterans Treatment Court, Winter 2018 Issue, BJA-Sponsored, National Drug Court Resource Center. This issue focuses on VTCs and serves as a curated compilation of research articles, a practitioner note, and a legal commentary designed to increase knowledge about VTCs and call attention to areas in need of inquiry or further consideration.

Websites

National Treatment Court TTA Partners

All Rise
Founded as the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, All Rise provides hundreds of training events each year and offers a suite of e-learning options.

Center for Justice Innovation
The Center for Justice Innovation creates operating programs to test new ideas and solve problems, performs original research to determine what works (and what does not), and provides expert assistance to justice reformers around the world.

National Treatment Court Resource Center (NTCRC)
Managed by the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the NDCRC mission is to equip the drug court field with a wide variety of open and accessible resources and research, helping treatment courts run more effectively.

Treatment Court Institute
Formerly known as the National Drug Court Institute, the Treatment Court Institute was formed in response to a need for standardized, evidence-based training and technical assistance as a result of the rapid expansion of problem-solving courts across the United States.

Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
The Tribal Law and Policy Institute works under a grant program to provide training and technical assistance to tribal healing to wellness courts.

Date Modified: August 17, 2023
Date Created: March 10, 2021