Veterans Treatment Court Enhancement Initiative

October 30, 2024 |  12:30 PM–2:00 PM EST

Webinar  recording

Presentation

Presenters: Julie Baldwin, PhD and Jamie Vaske, PhD

Under the Veterans Treatment Court Risk and Need Enhancement Initiative (VTCEI), the Bureau of Justice Assistance has partnered with American University to pilot and validate the first set of risk and need assessment tools designed specifically for veterans treatment courts (VTCs). There are two tools that incorporate measures specific to military experience and the latest research on post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, substance use, and other issues affecting veterans. The Short Screener (VET-S) provides a snapshot of potential participants for VTC teams to determine eligibility for their specific programs, and the Comprehensive Assessment (VET-C) provides an in-depth account of veterans’ needs and criminogenic risk for case planning purposes. Pilot programs receive risk and need responsivity training for their full teams and tool training and technical assistance for those who will be conducting the assessments.

Learning Objectives:

• Veterans Treatment Court Enhancement Initiative
• Assessment Tools (VET-S-Eligibility, VET-C-Case Planning)
• TTA Protocol
• National Status

Julie Marie Baldwin, PhD, is a Research Professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology at American University. She specializes in translational and evaluation research with a focus on courts, substance use, and subcultures. Her current research projects are funded by the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, SAMHSA, the Office of Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney, and the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. These projects include RCTs and multisite evaluations, requiring primary data collection. She has obtained over $55 million in funding as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator. Dr. Baldwin is an internationally recognized expert on veterans treatment courts (VTCs) and continues to pioneer VTC research. She disseminates her work to a broad audience through peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reports, and presentations. To date, she has visited more than 50 VTCs across the country and is actively working with 24 VTC programs. Dr. Baldwin is also the co-founder and co-president of the Veterans Treatment Court Research Consortium and served as editor of the Veterans Justice and Mental Health Newsletter for BJA’s National Drug Court Resource Center.

Jamie Vaske, PhD, is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Western Carolina University, where she trains practitioners on evidence-based practices in corrections and researches their effectiveness. Her work includes studies on treatment court incentives and sanctions, risk and needs assessments for specialized populations (justice-involved veterans and females), pretrial reform implementation, early counsel involvement at bail hearings, and judicial responses to nonappearance in court.