Drafter
Clerk 08/18/2011
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the establishment of a veterans treatment court.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. There are twenty-three million four hundred thousand veterans in the United States; one million seven hundred thousand of those are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Washington state has six hundred twenty-three thousand veterans, and there are one hundred forty-three thousand veterans in King County.
B. Veterans are not more likely to be arrested than the general population. However, significant numbers of veterans become involved with the criminal justice system as they return to civilian life and struggle with mental health issues, substance abuse illnesses, or homelessness, or any combination thereof. The combination of mental health problems and substance abuse can trigger behaviors that result in criminal justice system involvement.
C. A 2000 Bureau of Justice Statistics report noted that eighty-one percent of all justice-involved veterans had a substance abuse problem prior to incarceration and thirty-five percent were identified as having alcohol dependency. Another study found that one in three homeless adults had served in the United States military.
D. Many veterans returning from recent conflicts abroad may also struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury can cause violent outbursts, and the conditions are often self-medicated with alcohol and drugs.
E. National statistics show that veterans are over-represented among those who commit suicide, constituting about twenty percent of the thirty thousand to thirty-two thousand United States deaths each year from suicide. On average, eighteen veterans commit suicide each day.
F. Veterans treatment courts are specialty therapeutic courts designed to address the unique needs of individuals who have served in the United St...
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