Program to change how veterans are treated in justice system Program to change how veterans are treated in criminal justice system

The country's soldiers face challenges that many people can't even begin to understand, both during and after their military service. Too many of them end up in jail or in prisons as a result of invisible wounds they suffered on the battlefield that are not properly treated when they return home.

In 2017, we must resolve to end the incarceration of soldiers who are in need of mental health services and treatment. I am proud that New Jersey has taken important steps toward doing that.

At its last voting session of the year, the state Senate approved legislation unanimously that will drastically change the way veterans and enlisted military who served in combat, and have been diagnosed with or show symptoms of a mental health condition, are treated in the criminal justice system.

The bill, which I sponsored, will create a Statewide Veterans Diversion Program to divert these men and women away from the criminal justice system as early as possible following an interaction with law enforcement.

When a person is taken into custody for an eligible offense, the responding law enforcement officer will inquire as to whether the person is a service member or has ever served in the U.S. military. If he or she answers yes, the officer would operate with a preference for diverting an eligible service member to a county Veterans Diversion Resource Center or other community-based mental health services in lieu of filing a criminal complaint.

The program would provide appropriate case management - guiding individuals toward mental health services and helping them to find housing or employment.

It would be available to defendants charged with a non-violent petty disorderly persons offense, disorderly persons offense, crime of the fourth degree or the third degree.

Veterans would be paired with a mentor, a volunteer veteran recruited by the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and if they comply with the program could have the charge dismissed.

Rather than allowing them to fall into the criminal justice system, this will better ensure that combat veterans who have found themselves headed down the wrong path are given treatment and a second chance.

They deserve it.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 77 percent of veterans in prison and jail received an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions. About half of all veterans in prison and in jail have been told by a mental health professional they had a mental health disorder.

As someone who serves in the Legislature alongside two military veterans, Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak and Assemblyman Bruce Land - who between them have three Bronze Stars, a Soldier's Medal and a Purple Heart - I know that the nation's soldiers have encountered very difficult conditions during their service that we cannot begin to imagine unless we've literally walked in their shoes.

Creating this program is the right thing to do. And we've already taken a big step toward meeting the goal of ensuring that military personnel and veterans have the resources they need to live a healthy and productive life. I look forward to continuing to advance the effort in the weeks and months ahead.

Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic, is chairman of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee and vice chair of the Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee.