Meehan’s bipartisan legislation, the SALUTE Act, will help establish Veterans Treatment Courts across the country

Media, PA – U.S. Representative Patrick Meehan (PA-07) today held a roundtable discussion focused on Veterans Treatment Courts - a court system to serve the unique needs of veterans struggling with addiction, mental illness, or other disorders.

“We are seeing many of our returning veterans struggle with substance abuse, PTSD, and other issues related to the difficulties of service,” said Meehan. “For veterans who end up in trouble with the law, we know that veterans treatment courts are not just the more effective alternative for many, but it’s also the right thing to do. I salute our veterans and those local officials working to make veterans courts a success, and this legislation will provide important national support to that effort.”

Rep. Meehan recently introduced H.R. 3721, the Servicemember Assistance for Lawful Understanding, Treatment and Education (SALUTE) Act. This bipartisan legislation makes federal grant funding available to state and local governments to establish Veterans Treatment Courts.

Delaware County District Attorney, Jack Whelan, participated in today’s roundtable discussion. Delaware County created Veterans Courts in 2011.

“In Delaware County, our goal is to help our veterans who leave the chaos and danger of combat, who come home with war-related problems, and then face challenges that land them in our criminal justice system,” District Attorney Whelan said. “We have already experienced success with our Mental Health Treatment Court, and we are pleased that we can offer a treatment court to address the unique challenges faced by our veterans. We commend Representative Meehan for introducing legislation that will help support the veterans treatment court.”

Representatives from other area Veterans Treatment Courts also participated in the discussion, including: Stephanie Landes, coordinator for the Montgomery County Veteran Treatment Court which have been in effect since April 2011; Phyllis Hartman and Diana Zinnie with the Justice Outreach Program at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) center located in Coatesville. Also participating in the discussion was Doug Roger, Jr., Delaware County Public Defender, who is working to educate area defense attorneys about Veterans Treatment Courts.

According to the RAND Corporation, one in five veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will experience a stress related mental illness, and many turn to drugs and alcohol to help cope from the trauma of the battlefield. Veterans Treatment Courts provide our returning heroes access to counseling, drug and alcohol treatment and other services as part of the criminal justice system. Successful completion the Veterans Treatment Court program – which includes drug testing – gives Veterans the ability to lessen or dismiss the charges against them.

The SALUTE Act establishes VeteransTreatment Courts under the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program at the Department of Justice. The first Veterans Treatment Court was established in Buffalo, New York in 2008. Since then, more than 80 veterans treatment courts have been established in communities across the country, including Delaware, Montgomery, Berks and Chester Counties and the City of Philadelphia.

The bipartisan SALUTE Act is cosponsored by Reps. Rob Andrews (NJ-1), Chaka Fattah (PA-2), and Kevin Yoder (KS-3).