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Cover story |
Mental health
October 2012 |
drinkanddrugsnews
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support. The defendant seemed stunned. ‘We very much thank you for your
service to this country, but you’ve got a lot of work to do,’ the judge told him,
adding that he now had the support of the court, its staff and its volunteer
mentors. He told the defendant to ‘faithfully attend treatment sessions’ and stay
away from ‘the people, places and things that are temptations’.
He was then introduced to his mentor, who had served in the same division in
Vietnam, to formulate a plan of action. They were told to report back in 15 minutes
and again in two weeks to report on initial progress. ‘I also want the court welfare
and social work team to give all the financial support and assistance it can to your
mother so that she can keep in touch with you and support you both now and in
the foreseeable future,’ the judge said.
The veteran was marched out to more applause, returning 15 minutes later with
the mentor, who reported that supported accommodation had been secured and
that a medically supervised drug and alcohol detox was available for later that day.
The mentor said that he would escort the veteran to appointments and meet him
every day until the next court date. Interventions and support packages can last 36
months or more, depending upon need, and before the veteran left the court, Judge
Russell made it clear with that since the programme had been established in 2008
no one had reoffended, and he advised him not to be the first.
I can confirm that, almost a year later, he hasn’t reoffended and is making great
progress addressing all his issues with the help of the court mentors, medical and
social work staff. Those who have been through the programme are also given the
opportunity to become mentors themselves, thus reinvigorating the recovery
process through real examples of success.
*****
In the UK we already have the infrastructure to pilot and establish veterans courts, yet
there is a reluctance to accept the true numbers of veterans that have involvement in
the UK criminal justice system, or even that the problems are attributable to military
service. Until we can come to a consensus on the numbers within the criminal justice
system and accept that real and effective alternatives to custody can be put in place,
veterans will continue to be over-represented within the system and excluded from
real opportunities to address the multiple and complex issues that impact on their
everyday lives and ability to assimilate with a society that owes them so much.
Here, the Royal British Legion proudly promotes the millions it spends on
financial and welfare support, but the fact that it has to gives a real insight into
the levels of deprivation and need that exist in the former service population. Add
this to the money paid out by Combat Stress, Help for Heroes, SSAFA and the other
veteran-specific charitable organisations, and it is the generosity of the British
public and charitable trusts that pay for most, if not all, services.
During my social work career I noticed that increasing numbers of former
service personnel were becoming visible within the homeless sector or mental
health support services, suffering from diagnosed or undiagnosed post-traumatic
stress disorder, with many more presenting at A&E departments, GP surgeries,
substitute prescribing services and AA or NA meetings.
In 2009 I founded About Turn CIC (
DDN
, 21 June 2010, page 6), but the journey
to establish a truly ‘needs led’ service that was fit for purpose has been difficult
and slow. The economic downturn, a change of government and lack of
understanding within both the charitable funding community and military
benevolent organisations – and widespread denial that veterans exist within the
UK criminal justice system – has led to limited opportunities to acquire core
funding to develop a much needed service.
We found, by initiating a freedom of information request, that many services
commissioned by local authorities failed to ask if the individual accessing their
services had served within the armed forces. This fundamental omission – at first
point of contact, assessment stage or during the writing of a pre-sentence report –
can lead to a missed opportunity to understand the root cause of complex issues.
Organisations then try to shoehorn veterans into existing provision that is
neither appropriate nor relevant to their individual needs, and veterans are also
notoriously bad at asking for help. Some may view survival ‘on the streets’ – or
when experiencing acute adversity – as a continuation of the exercises or missions
they took part in while on active service. Couple this with a highly developed sense
of pride and a determination not to be viewed as a burden on society and it’s not
surprising that civilian-orientated support services find it difficult to maintain a
meaningful relationship with ex-forces personnel.
Many veterans continue to feel a deep sense of dislocation within the civilian
community long after discharge, and the common misconception that the military
‘take care of their own’ has also stood in the way of developing appropriate
services. Short sighted and ‘top down’ solutions that look for quick fix results via
brief therapeutic interventions, or adopt a ‘refer on’ approach, will inevitably result
in failure and long-term damage.
The introduction of the Armed Forces Covenant and locally driven armed forces
forums will go some way to ensuring organisations, at the very least, sit around
the same table to look at how the needs of veterans can be collectively met.
However there appears to be a reluctance to share practice or information, and
referral of veterans to other organisations is limited. It is essential that a process
be developed by which localised ‘grass roots’ statistical data can be collected,
shared and acted upon to address unmet needs.
This will require much closer partnership working. Specially designed service
delivery models with integrated pathways to specialised support need to be
developed and, if supported by targeted funding, could significantly increase
engagement with services for marginalised veterans and their families, reducing
both social isolation and the risk of reoffending.
Tony Wright is founder and MD of About Turn CIC.
www.aboutturncic.co.uk tony@aboutturncic.co.uk
www.buffaloveteranscourt.org
‘In the UK... there is a
reluctance to accept the true
numbers of veterans that have
involvement in the UK criminal
justice system, or even that
the problems are attributable
to military service.’
ABOVE: Tony Wright (centre) at the Buffalo Veterans Treatment Court.
FACING PAGE: Veterans’ demo