One veteran at a time: Carbon making progress in just 10 months in court

It’s been just under 10 months since the first participant went before Judge Joseph J. Matika as part of Carbon County’s Veterans Treatment Court.

The new specialty court aimed at helping veterans moving through the criminal justice system began Jan. 18 and has seen some impressive progress in the participants to date.

Richmond Parsons, chief adult probation officer in Carbon County and one of the main people on the veterans court team, said, “We’re really excited about the progress we made.”

“We see the need for this program amongst our veterans involved in the criminal justice program and as we continue to grow we hope others take advantage of it as well,” Matika added. “‘Bringing Our Veterans Home Again’ is our motto and our ultimate goal for each one of them.”

There are 12 participants in the 18-month program, with a few applications pending.

Of those 12, four are in different phases of in-patient rehabilitation services.

“We have a nice mix of individuals as the participants,” Parsons said. “We have from the very young to a little bit more senior individuals. We also have a wide range of individuals with different issues going on in their lives, everything from suffering with alcoholism to suffering from heroin or methamphetamine addiction, PTSD or other serious medical illnesses.”

He said that the program hopes to grow to approximately 25 participants as it moves forward.

The participants work at their own pace to move through the five-step program under the weekly guidance of Matika and the veterans treatment court team.

If the participant completes the tasks the judge requires, he is rewarded; if not, then there are sanctions that he must face.

Veteran participants in the program are also paired with veteran mentors, volunteers who also served in the military and can relate to the participants in ways civilians cannot.

To date, there are 10 mentors overseeing the participants, to be there both in the courtroom and as a person to lean on and provide extra support between court sessions.

Parsons said that since the program started, there has only been one discharge.

“You try to pick the right people who you think that this program will address and unfortunately, sometimes you have that one person who we just can’t meet their needs,” he said, adding that only one discharge in 10 months is a pretty good start.

Parsons credits the veterans treatment court team, made up of probation, the county Veterans Affairs office, Matika and treatment providers, for working together to create a unified network for the participants moving through the program.

“We’re helping these individuals who would normally be in jail stay out of jail and to really work towards recovery and becoming productive members of society,” Parsons said, adding that a few participants may be on track to graduate from the specialty court in the next nine months.

Matika echoed Parsons’ thoughts, saying, “As with any program involving individuals who are dealing with substance abuse or mental health problems we expect there to be setbacks and negative conduct. Fortunately, we have seen numerous individuals who, despite these setbacks have made many positive strides towards not only facing and addressing these problems head on, but learning how to deal with them going forward.

“This is attributable, in part, to their desire and commitment to change. It is also attributable, in part, to the tremendous efforts of the veterans treatment court team to help these participants.”

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein recently recognized that two of the participants can boast being clean for over 600 days, something Matika asks each participant at every court session.

“So far, so good,” Nothstein said.

Carbon County’s Veterans Treatment Court is one of 20 veterans courts in the state.

According to the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, the state’s veteran population ranks fourth in the nation.

That means that of the nearly 850,000 veterans living in Pennsylvania, some may find themselves in trouble with the law.

That’s where veterans courts help.

The state says that in 2016, 199 of 274 veterans in this specialty court program graduated instead of being incarcerated, reducing the costs for counties in their prison systems.

For more information on the Carbon County Veterans Treatment Court, visit http://www.carboncourts.com/veteranscourt.html or call Parsons at 570-325-4226.