Veterans Justice Outreach and Crisis Intervention Teams: A Collaborative Strategy for Early Intervention and Continuity of Care for Justice-Involved Veterans

Abstract

Alternatives to incarceration are the shared mission of the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) program in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the law enforcement community's Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). This article is unique as it presents a collaborative model of these two programs. Further, it outlines a strategy to facilitate care and services for military former service members who are unserved or underserved, or who may not readily identify as veterans. This innovative alliance has the potential to proactively engage former service members in treatment, optimize police intervention, and inform future research on justice-involved veterans.

Keywords:

• Veterans
• law enforcement
• crisis intervention
• mental health services
• jurisprudence
• incarceration
• collaboration
• Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
• Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Acknowledgments

This article is not subject to US copyright law.

This work was supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Saint Louis VA Health Care System. The authors are grateful for the assistance of Sgt. Barry Armfield, CIT police coordinator, Saint Louis County Police; Sabrina W. Tyuse, PhD, associate professor, School of Social Work, Saint Louis University; and Richard D. Stevenson, director of special projects, Alliance for the Mentally Ill, NAMI St. Louis. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.