Leon County Veterans Treatment Court

Leon County, Florida established a Veterans Treatment Court in 2015. Veterans Treatment Court is a partnership among the Second Judicial Circuit Court, Office of the State Attorney, Public Defender.s Office, Leon County, Florida Department of Corrections Probation and Parole, Veterans Administration, and local veteran organizations. The mission of the Veterans Treatment Court is to provide treatment to veterans and service members who suffer from service related mental health and/or substance abuse issues, with a goal of ultimately diverting participants out of the criminal justice system. The majority of Veterans Treatment Court treatment resources are provided by the Veterans Administration.

The Leon County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is a court-supervised, comprehensive treatment program designed to identify individuals with qualifying criminal charges who also meet the criteria to be served by the Leon County VTC. Those criteria are:

• Must be a Veteran, as defined in s. 1.01, F.S. or service member, as defined in s. 250.01, F.S., who has an Honorable or General discharge from military service.
• Must have a documented (by a qualified professional) military related mental health diagnosis, including but not limited to, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and/or a substance abuse disorder or psychological problems.
• Must not have previously been enrolled in and/or had a rejected admission to the VTC (exceptions may be made in this area if approved by the VTC Treatment Judge)
• Must participate in assessments and meetings with Leon County VTC personnel, to assist them in completing a referral packet to be reviewed in order to gain approval for enrollment in the program.

The Leon County VTC is a problem solving treatment court which includes regular court appearances before a dedicated VTC Judge; intensive substance abuse and/or mental health treatment services including, but not limited to individual and group counseling; regular attendance at sobriety support meetings in the community; random and observed drug and alcohol testing; guidance and support by a Veteran peer mentor; compliance with medical and other personal appointments/needs; housing assistance; and linkage to vocational training, education, and/or job placement services. The Leon County VTC requires a non-adversarial courtroom atmosphere in which a multi-disciplinary team works together toward the common goal of breaking the cycle of addiction and/or self- neglect.

Veterans enrolled in the VTC will be supervised by a VTC Veterans Pretrial Intervention/Probation Officer or a Department of Corrections Probation Officer, thus ensuring public safety and accountability. Veterans will be required to follow all of the VTC rules and participate fully in each aspect of the program, including signing all necessary forms, including releases needed to gain access to current and prior medical, treatment and service records. The Leon County VTC is set up to be a twelve (12) to eighteen (18) month program but that will depend on individual progress. The maximum amount of time you can be in the Leon County VTC is twenty four (24) months.