Williamson county veterans treatment court enhancement project - the williamson county veteran treatment court (wcvtc) will expand the services of the williamson county veteran treatment court (VTC)…

Williamson county veterans treatment court enhancement project - the williamson county veteran treatment court (wcvtc) will expand the services of the williamson county veteran treatment court (VTC) to provide eligible veterans judicially monitored support and rehabilitation through comprehensive substance use disorder (SUD) and CO-occurring mental health disorder (COD) services. Among the 289 individuals in jail in williamson county in the most recent one day snapshot, 29 are estimated to be veterans, with 4 (14.7%) expected to have a substance use disorder. Focus population demographics are expected to mirror current wcvtc client demographics with 82% white, 13% african american, and 5% hispanic. The geographic catchment area of the 21ST judicial district lies south of the state capital of nashville, and includes the cities of franklin, brentwood, and nolensville, and is characterized by a high cost of living and few resources for those in poverty, including only one temporary homeless shelter and no permanent shelters. Suds and mental health disorders resulted in more hospitalizations among U.S. Troops in 2008 than any other cause (samhsa, 2014). Nearly 13% of veterans are referred to counseling for alcohol use, and 15% report using opioids as compared to 4% of the general population (NIH, 2014). An estimated 82-93% of veterans with an SUD has a COD and is 3 to 4 times more likely to have a ptsd or depression diagnosis (teeters ET AL., 2017). Despite having substantially higher rates of SUD than the general population (9% VS. 6.7%), veterans accounted for only 3% of SUD treatment admissions in 2016 (teds, 2016). While catchment area poverty levels are below state average (4.6% VS. 16.7%), the current wcvtc population far exceeds both at 24% (U.S. Census, 2017; wcvtc, 2020). Homeless veterans experience SUD (70% VS. 7%) and SMI (45% VS. 41%) at higher rates than their non-homeless peers (olenick ET AL., 2015). Nearly 22% of wcvtc participants reported being homeless at some point; the remainder reporting having inefficient or transitional housing. Minorities comprise 17% of the area's veteran drug court participant population but only 10% of the catchment area. African americans use behavioral health services at half the rate of whites, leaving 13% of the area's veteran drug court individuals at risk of not receiving needed treatment (nami, 2018). Wcvtc will implement program activities in order to expand SUD/COD and other social services to criminal-justice involved veterans resulting in decreases in negative behavioral outcomes (e.g., recidivism). Wcvtc will serve a total of 190 veterans over the project period; while this is below the minimum expectation, IT aligns with the current area focus population size and need and expands the program over the 5 year period. The program has achieved high levels of success and will continue to do so with increased staff capacity, expanded treatment services, and drug testing capabilities. Staff has formed community partnerships that have laid essential ground work to expand needed services to the veteran population in the geographic catchment area.