Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office is reflecting upon the last year of successes experienced with veterans' assistance programs in the criminal justice system.
According to a release, 12 local veterans successfully graduated from the Veterans Diversion Program in 2023. The program, now in its seventh year, provides veterans facing criminal charges with the opportunity to be diverted from prosecution by entering the program. In many cases, the veterans are facing charges due to untreated substance abuse or behavioral health issues, which can be service related. The year-long intensive program includes court supervision, treatment, mentorship and recovery support offered through partnerships with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Jewish Family Services, and other local service providers.
Veterans in the VDP often benefit from more than just linkage to treatment. We are able to provide counseling, family services and referrals to veteran's benefits so that they may apply for services that they might not have otherwise been aware of in terms of eligibility, VA Outreach Specialist Jake Sanders said.
Sanders said once in the system, support is offered through the rest of their lives.
While that intersection with the law may have found them on one of their worst days, the services provided often lead to permanent pro-social outcomes, he said.
Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury, a retired Navy captain, oversees the program and ensures each participant remains engaged and is meeting their commitments and recovery goals.
Upon successful completion of the program there is a graduation ceremony where the graduate can speak to fellow participants and invited guests. Successful completion of the program results in charges being dismissed.
I never knew that I had this second family known as veterans. I mean, I served back in the 1970s and when I left the service, I didn't connect with the VA, a 2023 graduate of the program said. It wasn't until I got involved with this program that I realized all the benefits and services that my oath and service record afforded me. I now seek to serve as a mentor for the program so that I can help others who are likely just as nervous as I was at the start of the program. They just need to get connected with services in order to get the help that they need.
I didn't realize that I needed help until I found myself in a tricky situation, involved with the law. I drank. I went to work. I supported my family, and then repeated the process. It wasn't until a terrible night where I drank too much and caused myself a major problem that I actually got the help that I needed, said another 2023 graduate who was unaware of all the VA benefits he was eligible for.
Additional information regarding the Veterans Diversion Program is available at
https://www.acpo.org/resource-page/55
Also in 2023, the Prosecutor's Office also implemented a Veterans Response Team led by detectives who are also veterans. Their mission is to respond to calls for service involving fellow veterans in crisis and train veteran municipal law enforcement officers to respond as needed.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, Atlantic County Crisis Intervention Team, and Caesar's Casino hosted the state's first Department of Veterans Affairs sponsored VRT training, inviting officers from every county statewide to become team members in nine different agencies, including Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, Atlantic County Sherriff's Office, NJ State Police Casino Control Division, and law enforcement agencies in Atlantic City, Egg Harbor and Galloway townships, Margate, Northfield and Somers Point.
One of the VRT's goals is to de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation. Sometimes just having a veteran-to-veteran conversation, that relationship, is enough to calm the situation and pull the veteran out of crisis and connect them with services, ACPO Detective Christopher Southard, a Marine Corps veteran, said.
Last year, VRT officers handled more than 20 situations involving homelessness, mental health, addiction, barricaded subject, suicide, and partnered with the VA to prevent a Vietnam veteran from losing his home approximately one week before is was going to Sherriff's sale.
Looking to build upon the gains made in 2023, the Prosecutor's Office will hold another VRT training class in the spring with a goal of having VRT trained officers embedded in every municipal department in Atlantic County.
