Representatives Crow, Young Introduce Legislation to Help Incarcerated Veterans Access Treatment & Resources

Press Release

WASHINGTON -- Representatives Jason Crow (D-CO-06) and Don Young (R-AK) introduced the bipartisan Justice Involved Veterans Support Act to help the currently 181,000 incarcerated veterans -- including those suffering from mental health conditions, alcoholism, and homelessness -- to access existing support through the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). Currently, more than half of justice-involved veterans have either mental health difficulties (like PTSD or depression) or substance abuse disorders (like alcoholism or drug addiction) and many justice-involved veterans are homeless or at-risk for homelessness while many others have difficulty finding work or reentering society.

"Our veterans stepped up to serve the Nation and we have a moral obligation to care for them and their families. It's our duty to ensure they have the support they need when they come home. Far too many of our veterans end up incarcerated -- in part because they didn't have the resources to address ongoing challenges with mental health, substance abuse disorders, and housing insecurity. But help is available," said Congressman Jason Crow. "The Justice Involved Veterans Support Act will identify these veterans and connect them with the resources they need. I'm proud to introduce this important legislation with Congressman Young so we can deliver on our promises to our country's veterans."

"Too many veterans across our country served bravely in our Armed Forces only to be failed by our criminal justice system after returning to civilian life. Many of these veterans, known as justice-involved veterans, suffer from mental health conditions, alcoholism, and homelessness. Far too often, they are not identified as eligible for Veteran Treatment Courts (VTCs) during their criminal proceedings. Very frankly, we are failing our veterans by condemning them to incarceration rather than helping them with the health care and support they need and deserve," said Representative Don Young. "I am very proud to introduce the Justice Involved Veterans Support Act with my colleague, Congressman Jason Crow. Our legislation provides crucially needed assistance to help identify VTC-eligible veterans, decrease veteran poverty, and keep our justice-involved veterans off the streets and out of prison. Our heroes put their lives on the line for this country, and I will continue working to ensure that my fellow veterans know our grateful nation stands with them."

While American veterans struggle with these issues, there are existing resources available to them through the VA. Participation in Veteran Treatment Courts (VTCs) is shown to result in far lower recidivism rates (14% in participants versus 23-46% in the general prison population). Preliminary research shows that participation in VTC services produces sustainable improvements to PTSD recovery in participants.

In addition, the Veterans Justice Outreach program was created to facilitate access to VA services at the earliest possible point. These programs have already proven their value with tangible results. However, more justice involved veterans need to know they exist.

The Justice Involved Veterans Support Act creates a pilot to help identify veterans involved in the criminal justice system so they can better access these resources.

The Justice Involved Veterans Support Act:

Creates a pilot program for the Attorney General in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide grants and technical assistance to state prisons and local jails to improve documentation of whether inmates are veterans.
The goals of the pilot program are to:
Assist the VA Secretary in providing benefits to incarcerated veterans;
Assist state VA offices in providing benefits to incarcerated veterans; and
Increase the number of veterans involved in the criminal justice system whose cases are diverted to VTCs.
The priority for selecting state prisons and local jail grant recipients will be based on:
States that contain the greatest populations of veterans per capita;
States with the highest rates of veterans living in poverty; and

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