Criminal Justice Program Evaluation: Oklahoma County Veterans Treatment Court
A growing body of scholarship confirms that many military veterans, especially combat veterans, experience difficulties in transitioning to civilian life. Although the vast majority of veterans manage to overcome these challenges and go on to lead meaningful and productive lives in their communities, far too many veterans become involved with the criminal justice system for a wide array of reasons, many of them service connected (Tinko et al., 2020). The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the importance of evaluation for criminal justice programs such as the recently implemented veterans court in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. To this end, a description of this criminal justice program and the purpose of evaluation for this criminal justice program is followed by a discussion concerning why it would be of importance to the organization. In addition, an explanation concerning the impact of policy on this criminal justice program and a description of the process that should be used to evaluate it are followed by the identification of relevant data that will need to be collected during the program evaluation that would demonstrate the extent of the programs effectiveness. Finally, a description concerning what may be expected from an evaluation of the veterans court is followed by a summary of the research and key findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.
Description of the selected criminal justice program
Established and funded by a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance FY19 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, the purpose of the Oklahoma County Veterans Treatment Court (hereinafter alternatively the program) is to provide veteran offenders with an alternative route to the adjudication of their cases which takes into account their military backgrounds and experiences in formulating appropriate sentencing strategies that include multidisciplinary substance abuse treatment and counseling services using evidence-based interventions, mandatory drug testing and appropriate transitional services to facilitate the return of veteran offenders to their homes...
…criminal justice system following their completion of the terms set forth by the Oklahoma County Veterans Treatment Court. Realistically, though, the outcome of this program will likely reflect the enormous challenges that are associated with substance abuse treatments in any
population and it is reasonable to suggest that although the recidivism rate will likely decrease, additional programs of this type are needed to help this population successfully transition to civilian life following years of regimented military service (Stevenson, 2020).
Conclusion
The Oklahoma County Veterans Treatment Court was established in 2019 in an effort to provide veteran offenders with an alternative adjudicative path that takes into account their military backgrounds in formulating sentencing regimens that typically include drug treatment and counseling as well as transitional services to facilitate offenders return to their homes and communities. Although insufficient time has elapsed to provide a thorough evaluation of this and similar types of criminal justice programming, it is reasonable to conclude that this program represents an enlightened approach to helping veterans…
