Evaluating veterans treatment court performance for long-term success

Background 

Rhode Island's Veterans Treatment Court is one of the country's largest programs with an average of about 60 participants a year, serving 448 veterans since 2017. In 2020, the Rhode Island District Court was awarded grant funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for its veterans treatment court. The project required comprehensive process and outcome evaluations, annual performance assessments, and provide technical assistance for a five-year period. The court engaged with NCSC to assist them with fulfilling these requirements. 

Our approach

The NCSC project team worked with court staff to identify three primary project goals for the grant period:

1. Increase the program's capacity to deliver comprehensive case management and monitoring appropriate to risk and need levels of the population served.
2. Increase community partners to provide comprehensive support services, including Moral Reconation Therapy and Seeking Safety.
3. Maintain performance measurement information at intake and follow-up. 

Our scope of work over the five-year period included comprehensive reporting, data collection and review, and technical assistance. Throughout the process, we conducted court and pre-court team observations, interviewed stakeholders, facilitated focus groups, and surveyed team members. We also reviewed policies and procedures, forms, handbooks and other materials to understand the program structure and administration. Data from multiple sources was reviewed and analyzed to address standards covered under the Government Performance and Results Act. 

To complete the project, the team experienced challenges created by changes in case management systems and grant reporting requirements, data quality concerns, and training new employees during the pandemic. 

The results

Working closely with program staff, stakeholders, current and past participants, and others, we equipped the Rhode Island Superior Court with the following:

• Comprehensive process evaluation of the program's operations
• Performance assessment reports on grant-reported data and court data
• Technical assistance supporting the identified goals, updated best practice standards, and training and materials for the program's volunteer veteran mentor component.
• Comprehensive outcome evaluation, including in-program and post-program recidivism and program success
• Recommendations for future data collection and training

The court fulfilled its grant requirements to SAMHSA and will be using these reports to apply for continued veterans treatment court funding.