Citation

Smelson DA, Gaba A, Pressman K, Clary KM, Shaffer PM, Pinals DA. Community Ment. Health J. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-020-00565-z

PMID

32006293

Abstract

Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) have expanded dramatically despite their limited empirical base. This pilot study examined MISSION-Criminal Justice (CJ), a co-occurring disorders wraparound intervention, delivered alongside two VTCs. Baseline data from 26 male veterans enrolled in two VTCs and MISSION-CJ, and 6-month follow-up data for 18 of the 26 veterans, are presented. Veterans on average were 37.5 years old, 85% Caucasian, had significant histories of criminal justice involvement (14.3 lifetime arrests), had an average of 14.7 years of alcohol use and 9.3 years of illicit drug use, and roughly three-quarters reported mental health symptomatology. At 6-month follow-up, veterans demonstrated improvements in behavioral health, substance use, and criminal justice outcomes. This study demonstrated promising preliminary outcomes of MISSION-CJ in VTCs. A randomized controlled trial is a critical next step to examine whether these outcomes remain consistent with a more rigorous design.

Language: en

Keywords

Alternative to incarceration; Case management; Co-occurring disorders treatment; Justice-involved veterans; Veterans treatment court