Porter County's veterans treatment court growing quicker than expected

VALPARAISO | Porter County kicked off one of the state's first veterans treatment courts with a group of 12 participants spanning military operations as far back as the Korean War.

Porter Superior Court Judge Julia Jent, who supervises the effort along with the similarly operated drug court program, said the number of participants is growing more quickly than expected. Later this month she plans to ask the County Council to increase funding from $55,000 to $85,000 for the year.

The veterans court operates much like the county's drug court in that accepted participants have the opportunity to clear themselves of criminal charges and/or avoid jail time if they comply with a highly structured program.

Typical offenses include domestic violence, criminal mischief, drug possession and drunken driving, said Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Adam Burroughs, a veterans court team member.

The program, which demands more out of the veterans than if they simply plead guilty, provides them with a special opportunity, not special treatment, Burroughs said. More than half of veterans court participants have suffered a traumatic brain injury during their military service, along with other problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

"They're asking for help," he said. "They don't understand what's happening to them."

Lake County is investigating starting its own program in the wake of a veterans treatment court conference held there Jan. 27, said Ray Guiden, service officer at the county's veterans service office.

"It's like we're taking our first steps before running," he said.

The veterans treatment court program in Cook County, Ill., has been in place for three years, making it the fifth oldest in the country. It has 70 participants, said coordinator Mark Kammerer.

Forty-one veterans have completed the program for a success rate of 72 percent, with strong follow-up results, he said.

More than 80 veterans treatment courts, including one in Vanderburgh County, Ind., have popped up nationwide, growing out of the gains made by the drug court model, said Christopher Deutsch, director of communications for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

"They really changed the way the criminal justice system approaches addicted offenders," he said.

Both the Porter and Cook County programs operate with teams of specialists and work closely with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to make sure participants are receiving all the help that's available.

Another key element is the volunteer veterans, who serve as mentors to the offenders, Jent said.

"You can never say, unless you've been there, 'I know what you're feeling,'" she said.

While program officials expect to see an influx of young veterans returning from the recent wars in the Middle East, for some combat-related problems don't surface until much later in life after the family has had enough and/or retirement has left them with much more free time, Burroughs said.

Kammerer said 11 percent of the veterans in the Cook County program served during the 1960s, with 23 percent in the 1970s, 31 percent in the 1980s, 16 percent in the 1990s and 19 percent since 2000.