The Issue...  

Military service is an honor and the experience gained often is a cornerstone of a veteran's professional and personal lives.  

Unfortunately, for some veterans there are difficulties readjusting to civilian life, and as a society we fail to provide the services they need to live successful lives after their selfless service to our nation.  Many of these veterans will be incarcerated as a result of difficulties experienced during their service and lack of support to address them.

Over 2 million soldiers are now returning from the conflicts In Iraq and Afghanistan.  It is estimated that over 600,000 are suffering from psychological trauma or Traumatic Brain Injury.  Fewer than half reported that they sought treatment for their condition.  This is leading to an unacceptably high rate of unemployment for these vets and an increased risk of incarceration due to lack of transitional support.

As this next greatest generation returns home from war, a debt of care is owed to ensure that those who are having difficulty readjusting are simply not thrown into our prison system as so many Vietnam era veterans were.   

What We're Doing...   

The Veteran Justice Corps is an innovative partnership between the Council on Crime and Justice and the Corporation for National and Community service. The Veteran Justice Corps provides full and part-time AmeriCorps members to veteran service   organizations and specialty veteran courts across Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

We award Corps members as 12 month Cost Share grants to non-profit organizations and government agencies serving vets. We work with recipient agencies to define the roles of Corps members.

Corps members work to expand and support services to help vets in the criminal justice system access a wide array of services, including job placement, counseling, alternative sentencing,   advocacy, and peer mentoring.

The goal of the Veteran Justice Corps is to help military veterans involved in the criminal justice system by:

• Helping attain economic self-sufficiency and support family stability
• Helping access alternative sentencing and restorative justice opportunities in recognition of their service.
• Increasing public awareness of the issues veterans face in the criminal justice system and their causes.
• Mobilizing volunteers for organizations serving veterans who are involved with or at risk of being involved with the criminal justice system.