PROGRESS UPDATE
January 2024
Despite major efforts by government agencies, community organizations, and families, far too many veterans are falling through the cracks as they struggle with mental health and substance use disorders, the aftereffects of traumatic brain injuries, and homelessness. These risk factors are sometimes caused or intensified by military service, and can increase the likelihood that veterans will engage in criminal activity and have contact with the criminal justice system.
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 for evidence-based reforms that enhance safety, health, and justice.
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
The Commission
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 are now directly participating in the Commission’s work.
Key Work to Date
Through research and outreach to veterans service organizations and criminal justice stakeholders, including site visits in San Diego and Atlanta, the Commission in its first year developed and published a range of findings and policy proposals focused on the “front end” of the criminal justice system—the phase from arrest through sentencing. Key work includes:
- A preliminary assessment of the challenges facing veterans in the civilian justice system and a video highlighting the key issues
- A brief on who qualifies as a veteran and why the lack of a uniform definition has important implications for justice-involved veterans
- A model policy framework that creates a new system of alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for justice-involved veterans
- A brief that examines research on the overlapping risk factors for veteran suicide and justice system involvement, as well as the unique effects that criminal justice contact may have on veteran suicide
- A brief that explores risk factors that may explain connections between service and criminal behavior among U.S. veterans
Currently, the Commission is developing findings and recommendations to improve the transition from military service to civilian life, a package that is scheduled for release in Spring 2024. A final set of proposals, focusing on the “back end” of the system (incarceration and reentry), is planned for Fall 2024.
The odds of justice involvement for veterans with PTSD are 61% greater.
The odds of justice involvement for veterans with TBI are 59% greater.
Early Policy Impact
Key leaders in Congress, senior officials at the Department of Justice and the Veterans Administration, several members of the National Association of Attorneys General, and the American Legislative Exchange Council are among those who have responded favorably to the Commission’s model policy framework.
Finding: The lack of consistent definition and identification of veteran status prevents many justice-involved veterans from receiving appropriate and effective benefits and services.
Recommendation: Federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies and courts should improve processes for identifying veterans in the criminal justice system and adopt a uniform definition of “military veteran” for use in those processes.
Action: The Commission is working with the Veteran Experience Office at the VA to complete the study in 2024. The office is conducting the study, and the Commission is involved in oversight and collaboration.
Finding: Efforts to help the nation’s justice-involved veterans are hindered by a lack of statutory frameworks addressing diversion, incarceration alternatives, and post-conviction options.
Recommendation: Federal and state governments should adopt statutory frameworks that incentivize and improve veterans’ diversion, deferred adjudication, participation in treatment courts, sentencing mitigation, and record clearance.
Action: In August 2023, the American Legislative Exchange Council adopted a model, the Veterans Justice Act, based on this recommendation. The Commission is vigorously disseminating the report and model policy to policymakers across the country.
Finding: A lack of coordination between programs for justice-involved veterans results in the duplication of efforts, a lack of proper program evaluation, and an inability to effectively share what works. As a result, justice-involved veterans seeking assistance often confront a confusing and disjointed network of untested interventions.
Recommendation: The federal government should create a National Center for Veterans Justice to lead a coordinated effort to identify and replicate best practices that can improve outcomes for veterans in the criminal justice system.
Action: The Commission is providing technical assistance to congressional leaders on bill language.
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. In addition, Commission members have authored commentaries for a range of publications; these include a a piece in USA Today by Chuck Hagel and Eileen Moore highlighting the challenges veterans face upon returning to civilian life, 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.
We are further elevating public awareness of veterans justice issues through a partnership with the NFL’s Salute to Service, sharing the story of a veteran who received a second chance from the courts and is now a successful father and member of his community.
HECTOR MATASCASTILLO served 18 years in the U.S. Army and 13 tours of duty in Iraq, but his most difficult battle happened when he came home. On January 24, 2004, Hector had a dissociative flashback and found himself in a standoff on his front lawn with eight police officers, guns drawn. By the time his criminal case made its way to a Minnesota courtroom, the outcome seemed inevitable. But when the judge learned of Hector's military service, he made a life-changing decision: rather than routing the veteran through the traditional criminal justice system with felony charges, the judge took his service into account and instead issued two years of probation and treatment for PTSD. Today, Hector works proudly as a crisis negotiator for police and is completing his PhD to become a forensic psychologist.
Hector’s story highlights the importance of a new policy framework for justice-involved veterans crafted by CCJ’s Veterans Justice Commission. He was recently honored by the Minnesota Vikings as part of the NFL’s Salute to Service, and the commission's framework has been adopted as a national model by an influential group of state legislators.
The Path Ahead
As we move these recommendations into action and finalize a roadmap to smooth service members' transition from the military to civilian life, the Commission is also:
- Briefing key leaders in Congress, the administration, state and local governments, and veterans’ organizations
- Engaging with veterans’ organizations to inform the Commission's ongoing deliberations and
- Preparing to launch the third phase of the project, which will be focused on corrections and re-entry
The Commission’s final report is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024, with dissemination efforts continuing well into the following year.
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