Helping Veterans Succeed

Veteran Court Dockets have demonstrated they work and benefit veterans, families and communities. Approximately 1 in 6 veterans have a substance abuse problem and 1 in 5 have been diagnosed with some type of mental or cognitive impairment.

The cycle of substance abuse and incarceration leads many to commit suicide, hurting families and our society, and we must do whatever we legally can to stop the vicious, destructive cycle and return all veterans to their families and to be contributing members of society.

The families will get back a son, daughter, brother, sister or spouse, and society will get a contributing tax-paying member, saving taxpayers billions of dollars in incarceration costs. It costs an average of $30,000 per year to keep a veteran incarcerated per year, plus the need to help families meet their needs, and by returning the veteran home without addictions or conduct problems, we save over $7 billion per year.

Unlike other special dockets, veteran court dockets with mentors who are veterans themselves have an astounding, unequal 90% success rate with no recidivism. Instead of wasting lives in prison, we can make a difference by returning them to their families and communities.

The alliance is leading efforts to pass federal and state laws funding federal, state, local and tribal veteran dockets in all jurisdictions and is working hard to finalize the Veterans Court Coordination Act of 2019 in the US Congress. We need the funds to continue to work with members of Congress, state legislators, judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense lawyers and veteran groups to expand the program and prevent suicides and incarceration.

The alliance comprises State Trial Judges, State Supreme Court Justices, Commonwealth Attorneys, Defense lawyers, prosecutors, retired senior military personnel, Psychiatrists, Doctors and state elected officials. We operate as a non-profit corporation and await official recognition as a tax deductible 501(c)(3) organization by the I.R.S.

OUR MISSION is to expand veteran court dockets to all US federal, state and tribal jurisdictions, establishing uniform, consistent models to prevent the 20 to 22 daily suicides or the incarceration of hundreds of thousands of veterans who face criminal courts every year. We will use our extensive experience and professional knowledge to convince the more than 10,000 jurisdictions without veteran dockets to establish dedicated dockets to deal with veterans who have committed crimes due to mental, emotional or physical trauma caused by their military service.

The time to help is NOW. Thank you for your support!

For more information, track the bills in Congress, see photos, and more, you can visit our website: https://nationalvetcourtalliance.org/