Key Takeaways
- •Sen. Moran (R-KS) highlighted the $4 million appropriation to establish the National Center for Veterans Justice to improve outcomes for justice-involved veterans through coordinated research and policy.
- •Matt McHugh (Director, Veterans Justice Commission) urged Congress to return to 1944 GI Bill standards, providing VA eligibility to all veterans not discharged under dishonorable conditions.
- •Sen. King (I-ME) and Rose Carmen Goldberg (Director, University of Washington Veterans Clinic) discussed the need for telemental health and automatic benefit restoration for incarcerated veterans.
- •Republicans and Democrats agreed on the efficacy of treatment courts but debated whether to expand VA benefits to veterans who received other-than-honorable discharges for service-related misconduct.
- •Congress will oversee the launch of the National Center for Veterans Justice while considering legislation to automate benefit restoration and improve the military's Transition Assistance Program.
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Hearing Analysis
Overview
This hearing examined the effectiveness of programs designed to support justice-involved veterans, with a primary focus on the success of Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) and the challenges veterans face when transitioning from military service to civilian life. Senators and witnesses discussed the high prevalence of arrest among veterans—particularly those with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries (TBI)—and explored federal efforts to standardize best practices through the newly authorized National Center for Veterans Justice. The discussion emphasized the need for better identification of veterans within the criminal justice system and the removal of administrative barriers that prevent veterans with "bad paper" discharges from accessing essential Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services.
Key Testimony & Policy
Witnesses highlighted the transformative impact of VTCs, which utilize a multidisciplinary approach involving judges, prosecutors, and veteran mentors to provide treatment instead of incarceration. Major General Clyde "Butch" Tate (Retired), Chief Counsel of All Rise, testified that VTCs have a national completion rate of nearly 60%, significantly higher than traditional probation. Former Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss detailed the "Kansas Trifecta" model, which integrates VTCs with law school legal clinics and university-wide student veteran centers. He noted that the Johnson County VTC has achieved a 95% success rate, with only five out of 89 graduates being re-arrested.
Brigadier General David McHugh (Retired), Director of the Veterans Justice Commission at the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), presented 11 recommendations to address the "commander’s dilemma," where military readiness often takes precedence over the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). The CCJ proposed creating an Under Secretary of Transition at the Department of Defense (DOD) and returning to the 1944 GI Bill standard, which would provide VA eligibility to all veterans not dishonorably discharged. Professor Rose Carmen Goldberg of the University of Washington School of Law advocated for the "Get Justice-Involved Veterans Back Home Act," introduced by Sen. Angus King (I-ME), which would establish a pilot program for telemental health services for incarcerated veterans and ensure the automatic resumption of VA benefits upon release.
The second panel featured Dana DeGiacomo of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and Dr. Thomas O'Toole of the VA. DeGiacomo described the BOP’s "VETS units," residential programs that provide structured environments for the 7,600 incarcerated veterans in federal custody. Dr. O'Toole highlighted the work of the 515 Veteran Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists who engage with over 60,000 veterans annually across 3,000 facilities. He noted that while the VA cannot provide direct clinical care to incarcerated veterans under current law, VJOs are essential for creating a seamless transition to VA care upon a veteran's release.
Notable Exchanges & Partisan Dynamics
A significant portion of the hearing focused on the "bad paper" discharge issue. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) shared the story of a Vietnam veteran who successfully upgraded his discharge after decades of being denied benefits due to untreated PTSD. This led to a bipartisan consensus on the need for the DOD and VA to better publicize discharge upgrade processes and the "liberal consideration" policies established by the Hagel and Kurta memos.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) questioned the efficacy of the current TAP. Gen. McHugh admitted that 41% of transitioning service members are classified as "not fully prepared" and 22% do not attend TAP at all, despite it being congressionally mandated. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) pushed for automatic VA enrollment for all service members upon discharge to prevent them from falling through the cracks.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH) focused on the technical barriers to identifying veterans in local jails. Justice Nuss explained that many veterans do not self-identify as "veterans" due to shame or age-related misconceptions, suggesting that law enforcement should instead ask, "Have you ever served in the military?" He also highlighted the underutilization of the VA’s VRSS and SQUARES data-sharing tools by local jurisdictions.
Organizations Mentioned
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): The primary agency discussed regarding the Veteran Justice Outreach (VJO) program and the provision of healthcare and disability benefits to justice-involved veterans. - Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP): Discussed regarding its management of 7,600 incarcerated veterans and the implementation of specialized VETS residential units. - All Rise: Praised for providing training and technical assistance to VTC teams to ensure they follow evidence-based practices. - Veterans Justice Commission (Council on Criminal Justice): Provided 11 policy recommendations, including the creation of a DOD Under Secretary of Transition and expanding VA eligibility. - National Center for Veterans Justice: A newly authorized Department of Justice (DOJ) hub funded with $4 million to standardize research and best practices for justice-involved veterans. - Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA): Identified as a critical funding source for state and local VTCs through federal grants. - Yale Law Clinic: Mentioned by Sen. Blumenthal for its role in litigating discharge upgrades for veterans with PTSD.
What's Next
The committee signaled strong support for the continued rollout of the National Center for Veterans Justice, with members urging the DOJ to coordinate closely with the VA and BOP. Future legislative action is expected regarding Sen. King’s "Get Justice-Involved Veterans Back Home Act," particularly its provisions for telemental health and benefit restoration. Senators also indicated they would look into increasing appropriations for the BJA to expand VTCs into jurisdictions that currently lack them, including federal courts and tribal nations.
Transcript
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing today, I'm excited about the hearing that we're having. It's one I don't think we've, this topic is not one that received, has received a lot of attention and I'm glad it is at least receiving more today. And I thank our witnesses. You got enough room? All right, good. Okay. I thank our witnesses for being here. I especially want to welcome two of my friends from my law school days. Both of had significant careers since we graduated. Major General Butch Tate, who is one of our witnesses today and is the, is one of the drivers of veterans' courts in our state along with the former Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court Lawton Nuss. Again, these two are the folks I know best when it comes to these issues and they are relentless on behalf of veterans and veteran justice. All of our witnesses provide examples of why we should work to support veterans when they transition out of the military and the value they add to communities and our country after their service when the transition goes well. All of us do that. We need to make certain that the veterans who carry scars of unhealed wounds, visible and invisible, are not forgotten. When left untreated, these can often lead or contribute to veterans' involvement in the criminal justice system. According to the Veterans Justice Commission represented today by General McCaffrey, 31 percent of veterans report having been arrested at least once in their lives compared to only 18 percent of the general population. Veterans with PTSD or TBI diagnosis are more than 50 percent more likely to experience criminal justice involvement. While there's no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem, I am encouraged by the array of community-based programs supporting justice-involved veterans and their families. I'm particularly supportive of the veterans' treatment court models. Since Johnson County, a Kansas, it's a suburb of the Kansas side of Kansas City, opened its first veteran treatment court in 2016, an additional five Kansas counties have followed suit. And I'm looking forward to hearing about the impressive journey that one Kansan, one veteran court graduate, Corey Schramm, who's with us here today, I'm interested in hearing his story. Thank you, Corey, for making the trip and thanks to your team from Johnson County in joining you here today. According to All Rise represented here by Chief Counsel General Tate, the average national completion rate for treatment courts is nearly 60 percent, approximately two-thirds higher than probation and more than twice the rate of probationers with substance use disorders. This data demonstrates that the cases of justice-involved veterans are best handled by experts who understand that a veteran's experience is different than that of a civilian. Veteran treatment courts are tangible investments in those who served our country and the results that we've seen speak for themselves. I will continue to prioritize federal support for veteran treatment courts in this committee as well as my role in the Senate Appropriations Committee. In this year, the annual CJS appropriation, we provided, that bill provided $4 million to the Department of Justice to establish the National Center for Veterans Justice. Through the National Center, I hope to see veterans in Kansas and across the country benefit from a coordinated DOJ resource designed to improve the outcomes of justice-involved veterans by closing the gap between research, policy, and the frontline of practice. This afternoon, we'll discuss where Congress, DOJ, VA, and local communities, where they've made strides in delivering on these promises that we've made to those who served. We'll also discuss where the improvements are needed to make programs stronger, more sustainable, and more successful by putting the veteran first. I was encouraged to see DOJ's March release of a notice of funding availability for veteran treatment courts followed by their commitment to brief the committee on both their plans for the establishment of the National Center and the technical assistance funding to support the training of treatment court staff and their partners nationwide. These developments reflect a welcome focus on justice-involved veteran community. I look forward to hearing from federal, state, local partners that are here with us today and to learn more about how this committee can support them. I'm going to, would at this point normally yield to the ranking member, Senator Blumenthal, he's on his way, he will be here, we'll save his opening statement for that arrival and let me introduce the panel. Testifying on today's first panel is Major General Clyde Butch Tate, retired, Chief Counsel of All Rise. Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, retired. There's a message here to me. As well as Corey Schramm, the veteran, a veteran of the U.S. Army. Brigadier General David McCaffrey, retired, Director of Veterans Justice Commission. And Rose Carmen Goldberg, Associate Teaching Professor and Director of the Veterans Clinic at the University of Washington School of Law. General Tate, you are now recognized for five minutes.
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