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The explosive growth of veterans treatment courts (VTCs) in the United States has raised questions concerning which justice-involved veterans (JIV) are eligible and ultimately selected for participation. For instance, should VTCs be more inclusive in their selection processes, and is it possible to do so within existing court parameters? Using data from 145 interviews of team members working in 20 VTCs across the country, this study explores the perceptions of those personnel on a range of factors impacting eligibility determinations of JIV. These include the decision-making processes of VTC teams, determinations of the nexus between a veteran's military service and their offending behavior, and the capacity of jurisdictions to provide treatment and services to all JIV, either through Veterans Affairs programs or community providers. Findings illustrate the variability of VTCs nationwide and suggest that specific midcourse alterations are necessary to fulfill stated court missions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interest Statement Community Participatory Research on Veterans in Specialized Programming. Funded under the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) Coordination and Translation Center (CTC) (U2CDA050097, MPI Taxman/Rudes). The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), or the participating sites.

Justice-involved veterans return to civilian life with a variety of mental and physical health challenges that often go untreated and increase their risk for self-harm and involvement in the criminal-legal system. Veterans Treatment Courts (VTC) were created to respond to the unique problems of justice-involved veterans by attempting to coordinate services and support with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), local treatment providers, and the VTC. Our research has two distinct phases. In Phase 1, we conducted qualitative interviews with VTC team members in twenty (20) VTCs from each USA region; in each VTC, we gained the perspectives of team members-judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, VJOs, VTC program coordinators, mentors, probation officers, and treatment providers--- on the operation of VTCs, with a focus on how to improve service provision for justice-involved veterans. A total of 145 interviews were conducted. We begin by describing the unique problems and treatment needs of justice-involved veterans, and briefly summarize the findings from previous research on the implementation and impact of VTCs. We then present our research study protocol and highlight findings from our phase 1 qualitative interviews with VTC team members. In addition, we describe phase 2 of our project, which will include focus groups with VTC graduates, and quantitative analyses of the service provision networks of three VTCs.

Despite their rapid spread over the last 15 years, little research has explored the perceptions of Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) team members regarding the viability and longevity of VTCs. The present qualitative study explores the perceptions of 145 VTC team members from 20 VTCs around the United States regarding the future of their own VTC and VTCs in general. Our analysis revealed four overarching themes about team members' expectations and hopes for VTCs in the future: the need for continued funding and increased resources; desires to expand participation in VTCs; hope and uncertainty about the future of VTCs; and depending on specific people to ensure the future of VTCs. While interviewees in general felt quite hopeful and optimistic that VTCs would continue to exist and may even expand, there was unease about exactly how this would occur. These concerns included securing stable funding sources, maintaining 'buy in' from key individuals, and resource needs for expanding the participation and eligibility criteria of VTCs. Given the important role that VTCs can play in effectively supporting justice-involved veterans, and offering more benefits compared to a traditional justice-system response, it seems vital to ensure that VTCs are able to continue operating in the future.