What is Veterans' Court?

The Dauphin County Veterans' Court Program is specifically designed for veterans involved in the Criminal Justice System.

The Veterans' Treatment Court is handled on a specialized criminal court docket involving Veterans charged with criminal offense(s), by diverting eligible Veteran-defendants with substance dependency and/or mental illness. The court substitutes a treatment problem solving model for traditional court processing. Veterans are identified through specialized screening and assessments, and voluntarily participate in a judicially supervised treatment plan that a team of court staff, veteran health care professionals, veteran peer mentors, AOD health care professionals and mental health professionals develop. At regular status hearings treatment plans and other conditions are periodically reviewed for appropriateness, incentives are offered to reward adherence to court conditions, and sanctions for non-adherence are handed down. Completion of program is defined according to specific criteria. Upon admission to Veterans Treatment Court, the court staff and mentors assist the veteran with an array of stabilization and other services, such as emergency financial assistance, mental health/trauma counseling, employment and skills training assistance, temporary housing, advocacy, and other referral services.

If you are interested in applying for this program, please contact your defense attorney.

Participants MUST obtain an evaluation from the VA Medical Center, and be reviewed by the Treatment Team PRIOR to placement in the program.

Additional information about the program may be found in the Participant Manual.