PROGRESS UPDATE
April 2024
In August 2022, the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) launched the Veterans Justice Commission, a multi- year research, policy development, and communications project that documents and raises awareness of the unique challenges facing veterans in the civilian justice system and builds consensus and political momentum for evidence-based reforms that enhance safety, health, and justice.
The Commission is an unprecedented group of senior military and criminal justice leaders and public servants with the experience and expertise crucial to diagnosing systemic challenges and developing feasible solutions. Chaired by former U.S. Defense Secretary, U.S. Senator and decorated combat veteran Chuck Hagel, the Commission also includes former U.S. Defense Secretary and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, a former Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, and two formerly incarcerated veterans. Between the Commission and its subgroups, more than 50 criminal justice and military leaders directly participate in the Commission’s work.
New Recommendations: Transition
In its second set of recommendations, the Veterans Justice Commission proposed a series of actions to boost support for service members transitioning from military to civilian life.
Finding: Roughly 245,000 service members transition from military to civilian life each year. While most successfully rejoin their families and communities, more than a quarter of all veterans express difficulties with the transition. Research shows that the challenges veterans face during transition can lead to contact with the criminal justice system.
Recommendation: Congress should establish an Under Secretary of Defense for Transition and the Department of Defense (DoD) should make successful transition a core priority mission, using a validated risk-needs tool and Joint Transition Centers to improve outcomes.
Action: Through visits and other outreach, Commission Chair and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and staff are educating congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, especially those on the Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees. Sec. Hagel has requested a joint hearing of those committees to raise awareness of the new recommendations and the problems they address. The Commission stands ready to provide technical assistance to congressional leaders on bill language.
Finding: When service members fall short of performance standards, commanders find themselves with limited options to address problematic behavior; many resolve this dilemma by turning to the military justice system or administrative separations. This use of punitive measures is problematic because service members who fail to meet performance standards are also more likely to be suffering from the invisible wounds of war, including conditions such as PTSD, TBI, SUD, MST, and mental health challenges.
Recommendation: The Department of Defense should integrate evidence-based practices into its management of performance issues and specified military justice cases to promote the retention, treatment, and healing of active-duty and National Guard/Reserve service members.
Action: Sec. Hagel and staff are educating leaders on Capitol Hill, on both sides of the aisle, in the Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees. Upon request, we stand by to assist Congress in putting these proposals into action.
Finding: Many service members undergoing transition face significant challenges in accessing vital VA services post-discharge. One key barrier to VA services is the absence of automated and immediate enrollment into care and benefits following transition, which forces service members to engage in a complex process to obtain care. Also, in the 1944 G.I. Bill of Rights, Congress explicitly wrote that individuals who were not discharged under dishonorable conditions should be eligible for VA care and benefits. However, the VA's implementation has not aligned with this plain text, resulting in the unlawful denial of services to hundreds of thousands of veterans with other than honorable discharges.
Recommendation: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should adopt regulations that follow the plain text of the 1944 GI Bill by providing VA eligibility to all former service members not discharged under dishonorable conditions, and Congress should mandate automated, nationwide enrollment in VA health care for all eligible transitioning service members.
Action: Sec. Hagel and staff are educating leaders on the Hill, on both sides of the aisle, in the Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees. The Chair has requested a joint hearing with those committees to raise awareness of the Commission’s recommendations and the problems they address. The Commission stands ready to provide technical assistance to congressional leaders on bill language.
MENTAL HEALTH & SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
Among over 18,000 veterans who connected with a post-release VA program, 69% were diagnosed with at least one mental health or substance use disorder.
Veterans diagnosed with a substance use disorder
Veterans diagnosed with a mental health disorder
Veterans diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders
Source: Finlay, 2017.
Earlier Work
During its first phase of work, the Commission largely focused on the "front end" of the criminal justice system - from arrest through sentencing. Through research and outreach to veterans service organizations and criminal justice stakeholders across the country, the Commission developed and published an assessment of the evidence about veterans' interactions with the criminal justice system and released a comprehensive set of findings and policy recommendations. Key work includes:
- A preliminary assessment of the challenges facing veterans in the civilian justice system and a video highlighting the key issues
- A first set of recommendations that calls for better identification of veterans at the front end of the justice system, increased diversion of veterans away from prosecution and incarceration, and a national center to advance best practices
- A model policy framework that creates a new system of alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for justice-involved veterans
Outreach to States
CCJ Veterans Justice Commission Chair Chuck Hagel (middle), Director Jim D. Seward (left), and adviser Brock Hunter (right) met with legislators in Nebraska.
In February 2024, Commission Chair Chuck Hagel, Project Director Jim Seward, and adviser Brock Hunter were invited to testify before Nebraska state lawmakers about justice-involved veterans. The bill was inspired by the Commission’s Model Policy Framework, which outlines alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for justice-involved veterans. The legislation would allow for the expansion of veteran wraparound services beyond Veterans Treatment Courts. In his testimony, Hagel, a former U.S. senator from Nebraska, said: “We all love veterans. We all acknowledge the service of veterans and we say nice things about veterans. But when some veterans get in trouble and they commit a crime, courts in this country, judges in this country, prosecutors in this country have very few options.” Similar legislative efforts are underway in Arizona, New York, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, and Florida.
Raising Public Awareness
The Commission’s work also has attracted significant media attention. MSNBC and NPR covered the Commission’s first report, as did numerous local network affiliates and major military news sources; an Associated Press story appeared in more than 300 outlets, including The Washington Post, CBS News, and ABC News. Other major highlights include stories in The New York Times, NBC News, CNN, The Washington Examiner, and the Military Times. In addition, Commission members have authored commentaries for a range of publications, including a piece in USA Today by Chuck Hagel and Eileen Moore highlighting the challenges veterans face upon returning to civilian life, a piece in The Hill from Hagel and Leon Panetta around the 20th anniversary of the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the specific needs of post-9/11 veterans, and an op-ed for Military.com by Carla Bugg that underscored the need to better identify veterans at the front end of the justice system.
The Path Ahead
In February 2024, the Commission convened its final committee, the Corrections and Reentry Advisory Committee. Members will examine obstacles many veterans face during incarceration and the reentry process and will address a wide range of topics, including veterans’ housing units, programming, and healthcare needs during incarceration, as well as veterans’ unique needs in preparation for and during reentry and post-release supervision.
Based on that work and other research, the Commission is scheduled to issue a final set of recommendations in the fall of 2024.