Department of Veterans Affairs Programs for Justice-Involved

VeteransIra Katz

Office of Mental Health Services

Ira.Katz2@va.gov

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Defining Justice-Involved Veterans

• A justice-involved Veterans is:– A Veteran in contact with local law enforcement who can be

appropriately diverted from arrest into mental health or substance abuse treatment;

– A Veteran in a local jail, either pre-trial or serving a sentence; or,– A Veteran involved in adjudication or monitoring by a court

• Related issues– Reentry for Veterans being discharged from State and Federal

Prisons– Disruptive Behavior Committees to establish individualized

strategies for safe management of Veterans who are dangerous to other patients, visitors, or providers

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Invisible Wounds

• Combat can cause invisible wounds to the brain, mind, and soul– Traumatic brain injury– Mental health conditions

• Both types of injuries can lead to– Poor judgment– Impulsivity– Difficulty in matching behavior to the context

• Behaviors attributable to these injuries– Can look like criminal behavior– Can be criminal

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Estimated Arrest Rates-2007

Male population

Female population

Male rate (per 100,000)

Female rate (per 100,000)

Veterans 22,614,000 1,650,000 5,076 703

Others 85,264,300 113,024,700 9,817 2,255

2007 adult population Arrest rates

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Implications

• Veterans are not more likely to be arrested than other adults

• But, Veterans were service members who were trained to be skilled in matters of life and death

• The healthy soldier effect should lead to lower numbers

• America has an obligation provide treatment and rehabilitation for the invisible wounds of the brain, mind, and soul to decrease rates of “criminal” behaviors, arrests, and incarcerations

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Recent Events

• December, 2008– Outreach Planning

Conference

• April, 2009– Summit

• 8 State and Federal Judges• Broad VA representation

• May,2009– Policy memo

• Champions

– Paul Hutter– Vincent Kane– William Feeley– James McGuire– Paul Smits

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DUSHOM Memo to VISN DirectorsMay 27, 2009

• Requirements for VA Medical Center and VISN activity focused on justice-involved Veterans

– VA Medical Centers must provide outreach to justice-involved Veterans in the communities they serve

– In communities where justice programs relevant for Veterans exist, VA will take the initiative in building working relationships to see that eligible justice involved Veterans get needed care

• Veterans courts• Mental Health courts• Drug Courts• CITs

– In communities where no such programs exist, VA will reach out to potential justice system partners to connect eligible justice-involved Veterans with VA services

• Judges• Prosecutors• Police• Jail administrators

– VA Medical Centers must also ensure that VA Police located at their facilities have received training on Veteran-specific issues

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Scale of MH Services in VHA

• Who are we?– 18,600 FTE MH staff

• Was 13,900 in 2005

– Providing care in• 21 VISNs

• 153 Medical Centers

• 732 CBOCs

– Budget ~$4 billion/yr– > 232 Vet Centers

• Whom do we serve?– 23.8 million Veterans– 7.8 million enrolled– 5.2 million seen / yr

• 22% of Vets

– 1.6 million with MH Diagnoses

• 30% of Vets in VHA

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Mental Health Conditions in VHA FY 2006

Depression 771,461 51.5%PTSD 345,844 23.1%Anxiety 286,264 19.1%Alcohol 244,124 16.3%Drug use 157,454 10.5%Psychoses 153,245 10.2%Bipolar 85,496 5.7%Total 1,498,762 100.0%

Disorders add to more than 100% because of coexisting conditions

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What is PTSD?

• Trauma– PTSD is tied to a to particular life experience. A traumatic experience typically

involves the potential for death or serious injury resulting in intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

• Symptoms• PTSD is characterized by a specific group of symptoms that sets it apart from

other types of reactions to trauma. Evidence points to four major types of symptoms.

– Re-experiencing• Mental replaying of the trauma, often with strong emotional reactions. This can

happen in reaction to thoughts or reminders of the experience when the person is awake or in the form of nightmares during sleep.

– Avoidance• Often exhibited as efforts to evade activities, places, or people that are

reminders of the trauma.– Numbing

• Loss of emotions, particularly positive feelings.– Hyper Arousal

• Excessive physiological activation and including heightened senses of being on guard as well as difficulty with sleep and concentration.

• Length and Severity– To qualify for a formal diagnosis, the symptoms must persist for over one month,

cause significant distress, and affect the individual's ability to function socially, occupationally, or domestically.

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Time

Symptoms,Suffering, orImpairment

What is PTSD?

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OEF/OIF VeteransSeen in VA Medical Centers & Clinics from

2002 through Q4 2008

• Total 945,423

• VA Medical Centers & Clinics 400,304– 42.3% of returning veterans

• MH Conditions 178,483– 44.6% of veterans who came to VAMCs

• PTSD 92,998– 23.2% of veterans who came to VAMCs– 52.1% of veterans with a MH condition

Conclusion: PTSD is an important component of the MH story for returning Veterans, but it is not the whole story

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Possible Mental Disorders Among OEF/OIF Veterans since 2002

 

Count% of MH

ConditionsPTSD 92,998 52.1%Other Depressions 63,009 35.3%Anxiety + 50,559 28.3%Major Depression and Bipolar 35,937 20.1%Non-Dependence Substance Use 27,246 15.3%Alcohol Dependence 16,217 9.1%Due to Organic Brain Disorder 8,057 4.5%Drug Dependence 7,412 4.2%Total 178,483

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Population Coverage

Veterans returned

Returning Veterans

seen in VA

PTSD in VAMCs and

CBOCs

PTSD in VAMCs,

CBOCs, or Vet Centers

Count 945,423 400,304 92,998 105,465% 42.3% 9.8% 11.2%

As of end 2008

The 2008 RAND report estimated that 13.8% of service members and Veterans had PTSD

Applying this number to the Veteran population suggests:

130,468 returning Veterans have PTSD

71.3% have been seen in VAMCs and CBOCs

80.8% have been seen somewhere in VHA

Veterans with PTSD come to VHA 1.89 times more

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BattlemindDeveloped by the WRAIR Land Combat Study Team

(LTC Carl Castro)

• Battlemind includes combat skills and the combat mindset that sustained your survival in the combat zone

• But Battlemind may be hazardous to your social and behavioral health in the home zone

• It is critical that you not let your combat behaviors and reactions determine how you will respond at home

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Battlemind

• Buddies (Cohesion)• Accountability• Targeted aggression• Tactical awareness• Lethally armed• Emotional control

• Mission operation security• Individual responsibility• Non-defensive (combat) driving• Discipline and ordering

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Non-defensive (combat) vs Aggressive Driving

• In Combat:– Driving unpredictably, fast, using rapid lane

changes and keeping other vehicles at a distance is designed to avoid IEDs and VBIEDs.

• At home:– Aggressive driving and straddling the middle line

leads to speeding tickets, accidents and fatalities.

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Targeted vs Inappropriate Aggression

• In Combat:– Split second decisions that are lethal in highly ambiguous

environments are necessary. Kill or be killed.– Anger keeps you pumped up, alert, awake and alive.

• At home:– You may have hostility towards others.– You may display inappropriate anger, or snap at your

buddies or NCOs.– You may overreact to minor insults.

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Lethally Armed vs “Locked & Loaded” at Home

• In Combat:– Carrying your weapon at all times was mandatory

and a matter of life or death.

• At home:– You may feel a need to have weapons on you, in

your home and/or car at all times, believing that you and your loved ones are not safe without them.

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Discipline & Ordering vs Conflict

• In Combat:– Survival depends on discipline and obeying

orders.– Following orders kept you and those around you

safe and in control.

• At home:– Inflexible interactions (ordering and demanding

behaviors) with your spouse, children and friends often lead to conflict

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Accountability vs Control

• In Combat:– Maintaining control of weapon and gear is

necessary for survival.– ALL personal items are important to you.

• At home:– You may become angry when someone moves

or messes with your stuff even if it is insignificant.– You may think that nobody cares about doing

things right except for you.

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Special Courts:a growing movement

• Veterans courts– 9 operational– ~ three dozen being planned

• Mental Health courts– > 300 operational– Alternative include

• MH presence for all courts (CT)• MH programs for probation

• Drug courts– > 2000 operational

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Estimated Justice-Involved Veteran Population-2007

US Number Est’d % Veterans

Est’d Veteran Number

Probation 4,293,200 9.3% 399,300

Parole-Supervised Release

824,400 9.1% 75,000

Local Jail 780,600 9.3% 72,600

State Prison 1,315,300 10.4% 136,800

Federal Prison 197,300 9.8% 19,300

Total Correctional 7,328,200 9.6% 703,000

Adults Arrested 12,078,000 9.6% 1,159,500

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Incarceration in Prisons-2004

Age Veterans Others

All adults 630 1,390

18-24 1,391 1,446

25-34 1,232 2,260

35-44 1,861 1,763

45-54 1,314 846

55-64 345 451

65 and older 76 105

Rate per 100,000 adult males

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Types of Discharge-2004

Total number 127,500 12,500

Honorable 61.6% 65.3%

General(honorable conditions)

16.9% 15.9%

General(other)

3.1% 1.9%

Other than honorable 8.8% 6.4%

Bad conduct 3.0% 2.5%

Dishonorable 2.8% 5.6%

Other 3.7% 2.4%

State Prisons Federal Prisons

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Veterans in Prison

• Older • Less likely to be minorities• More likely to have been married• More educated• More violent offenses

– State (57.4% vs 46.8%)– Federal (19.0% vs 14.1%)– More likely to have known victim * (70.9% vs 54.3%)– More likely relatives/intimates* (37.1% vs 21.1%)– Less likely to use weapon* (29.5% vs 37.8%)

• Less drug offenses– State (15.0% vs 22.1%)– Federal (46.3% vs 56.2%)

• Longer sentences– State (mean 147 vs 119 mos)– Federal (mean 138 vs 127 mos)

* State prisons

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Limits on VA Authorization

• Title 38 CFR 17.38 does not allow VHA to provide:– Hospital and outpatient care for a Veteran who is– Either a patient or inmate in an institution of

another government agency– If that agency has a duty to give that care or

services

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Outreach to Veterans in Prison

• Health Care for Reentry Veterans (HCRV)– 29,000 to 56,000 Veterans are discharged from

State and Federal prisons each year• 39 FTEE HCRV Specialists• Are contacting Veterans in 451 of 1208 State and

Federal prisons, and have • Worked with 10,415 Veterans

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DUSHOM Memo to VISN DirectorsMay 27, 2009

• Requirements for VA Medical Center and VISN activity focused on justice-involved Veterans

– VA Medical Centers must now provide outreach to justice-involved Veterans in the communities they serve

– In communities where justice programs relevant for Veterans exist, VA will take the initiative in building working relationships to see that eligible justice involved Veterans get needed care

• Veterans courts• Mental Health courts• Drug Courts• CITs

– In communities where no such programs exist, VA will reach out to potential justice system partners to connect eligible justice-involved Veterans with VA services

• Judges• Prosecutors• Police• Jail administrators

– VA Medical Centers must also ensure that VA Police located at their facilities have received training on Veteran-specific issues

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What now?

• Action in Washington may be necessary, but it can never be sufficient.

• Changing a large system may require– A push from VACO– A pull from consumers, families, and advocates

• NAMI, VSOs should be aware of the May 27 memo requirements to ensure that VA facilities– Work with CIT programs and special courts in each area– Work with other stakeholders to establish these programs

where they do not currently exist

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Work with Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists

• Each VAMC must designate a VJO specialist• Responsible for

– Outreach, assessment, case management for justice involved Veterans in local courts and jails

– Liaison with local justice system partners– Providing/coordinating training for law enforcement

personnel

• Specialists will– Assist in eligibility determination and enrollment– Function as members of court treatment teams– Refer and link Veterans to appropriate providers