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13 graduate from Cambria County Veterans Court program

Tribune-Democrat - 5/27/2020

May 27--EBENSBURG -- Thirteen military veterans graduated on Tuesday morning from a Cambria County court program designed to help veterans charged with crimes overcome substance abuse and mental health issues.

"Graduation is a commencement," said Senior Judge Timothy P. Creany, who helped launch the Cambria County Veterans Court program seven years ago. "It's a beginning. Let's hope that it's a beginning of a new life for our veterans and for their families. The hard work that has been done thus far is going to have to continue for you to be successful in this endeavor."

The program "was created to address the drug, alcohol and mental health issues that veterans face from their service to our nation," said Cambria County President Commissioner Tom Chernisky, who delivered a speech during Tuesday's ceremony, held outdoors at Veterans Memorial Park in Ebensburg to allow for social distancing.

"This struggle isn't over, but we believe that you are equipped to make the right choices from here on out," Chernisky told the group.

District Attorney Gregory Neugebauer said the program is meant to handle "nonviolent, nonsexual crimes" committed by military veterans dealing with substance addictions or mental illness. Defendants in the program are required to attend regular court hearings and to follow through with any substance abuse or mental health treatment ordered by the court.

"They get paired up with a mentor to help them cope with any underlying PTSD or substance abuse issues that they may have," Neugebauer said.

"They come to court on a consistent basis. They meet with the judge. They develop a relationship with the folks in the court system. ... It's nice to see 13 people take the hard step of acknowledging that there's an issue, acknowledging that they've done something wrong, and trying to do the right thing."

Creany said Veterans Court graduates are less likely to commit crimes in the future. The rate of recidivism among graduates of the program is less than 10%, he said, compared to about 20% among defendants who attend programs at the Cambria County Day Reporting Center and about 50% among drug defendants as a whole.

"It's worth it," said graduate Ryan Wolfhope, of Johnstown.

Wolfhope's mother, Trudy McDevitt, said that support from family members, friends and the community is critical to the continued success of program participants and graduates.

"It's very important that everybody learn as much as you can, show your support as much as you can and reach out as much as you can," she said. "I never realized how much a mother or a family can do that really does impact soldiers. I just want to thank everybody for giving my son another chance."

There are two "tracks" in the program -- the diversionary track and the incentive track. Defendants who complete the diversionary track can have their charges dropped; Creany said it's comparable to the state's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program. Graduates of the incentive track can enter guilty pleas to less serious charges than they originally faced.

Tuesday's class of 13 graduates was significantly larger than past classes. Neugebauer attributed the growth to an increase in knowledge of and trust in the program among veterans' groups and the community as a whole. Creany said almost 150 veterans have graduated from the program since it got off the ground in 2013.

"It's been around for a few years, so there's a certain level of trust in the program, I think, now," Neugebauer said.

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