In today’s blog, we are looking at Veterans Treatment Courts, reviewing the day-to-day and how smartphone technology is used. In Davidson County, Tennessee, individuals regularly attend court, sometimes as frequently as once per week. They attend weekly client specialist meetings, where their point of contact sets up treatment plans that include everything from housing and Veterans Affairs services to mental health and substance abuse treatment. Participants are also finding time for other small but important activities, like talking to peer support specialists, attending group meetings, taking job support classes, and keeping track of medications.
With so much to juggle, it’s essential for specialized courts, like veterans courts, to have the technology they need to support the diverse, unique needs of their veteran participants. This month, we sat down with Judge Melissa Blackburn, who serves Davidson County as a General Sessions Judge in Division II, which also oversees the veterans and mental health courts. We learned more about what makes veterans and veterans courts unique, as well as how Corrisoft’s technology directly supports this court’s needs.
What Makes Veterans Unique?
If there’s one main thing that makes veterans’ courts unique from other courts, it’s that veterans want to be surrounded by other veterans. They want to be with people who have similar lived experiences to themselves. The need for camaraderie sets them apart. Building on this unique tendency, Davidson County has added another layer to its court system. It provides each veteran with a peer support specialist. This is another veteran who serves as the main point of contact and support for each participant in the program. When an individual is in crisis – they feel like drinking or turning back to substance abuse or have a mental health emergency – this is the first person participants turn to for help.
Veterans also require different resources, which mainly filter through the VA. If they need health care services, education, training or veteran housing services, many participants need assistance navigating those worlds. Whether it’s finding the right point of contact, learning about the full spectrum of VA offerings or completing the necessary steps to get the care they need, veterans need added support throughout the process.
What’s the Impact of Veterans Court?
The goal of Judge Blackburn’s veterans court is to help people put all of the pieces of their lives back together again, and a big piece of that is keeping track of all the things they need to do to do that. That’s where Corrisoft’s tools come into play. Every individual must go through weekly random drug screenings, meet with client specialists, and go to court, counseling, doctor’s appointments or group sessions.
Through Corrisoft’s tech, they have a phone they can carry with them that provides daily reminders of what they need to do and what’s expected of them. This is especially important for veterans who live with PTSD, intellectual difficulties or brain injuries because it reminds them in real-time when and where they need to be somewhere.
These little nudges have a big impact. “And being able to use the technology to help remind them, so that we’re not having to do it is so impactful because they’re able to do it as an individual and feel that they’ve accomplished something,” Judge Blackburn said. “It allows participants to feel independent and confident in their abilities to complete tasks. At the end of the day, they feel they have accomplished something themselves.”
Davidson County Success
In Davidson County, the recidivism rate in the veterans court is 9%. That means 91% of the time, its participants are successful in completing the program and reintegrating into society. This shows they are able to go into the program, learn what they need to do and where to go and what behaviors they need to avoid in order to get the fresh start they deserve.
“We have a lot of individuals who don’t have a phone, and to be able to have this phone through the program makes a world of difference in their ability to be compliant in this program,” Judge Blackburn said. “We’ll figure out how to restart their life and get them back on track, so that when they complete the program, all their fines are waived. Everything that we can expunge out of their record is expunged, and they have a fresh start.”
Judge Blackburn recalls one individual who entered veterans court with nothing – no home, no phone, no job, no bed. Upon his graduation, he said he would have been dead if it weren’t for the program he had just completed. He was able to obtain a job, find a home to call his own and reconnect with his family. “All those pieces were put back together again, and he was able to be part of society,” Judge Blackburn said. “Something he had not been able to do for 20 or 25 years. It was amazing to see him so excited and looking forward to life.” It’s stories like these that show what’s possible when courts combine their programming with the right technology.
At Corrisoft, we recognize that specialized care is important, especially for those who’ve given their lives to protect our freedom. We’re committed to creating and improving upon our technology to help your program better serve your participants.