title: The Availability and Utility of Services to Address Risk Factors for Recidivism among Justice-Involved Veterans.
abstract: The availability and utility of services to address recidivism risk factors among justice-involved veterans is unknown. We explored these issues through qualitative interviews with 63 Specialists from the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Justice Programs. To guide the interviews, we utilized the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model of offender rehabilitation. Specialists reported that justice-involved veterans generally have access to services to address most RNR-based risk factors (substance abuse; lack of positive school/work involvement; family/marital dysfunction; lack of prosocial activities/interests), but have less access to services targeting risk factors of antisocial tendencies and associates and empirically-based treatments for recidivism in VA. Peer-based services, motivational interviewing/cognitive-behavioral therapy, and Veterans Treatment Courts were perceived as useful to address multiple risk factors. These findings highlight potential gaps in provision of evidence-based care to address recidivism among justice-involved veterans, as well as promising policy-based solutions that may have widespread impact on reducing recidivism in this population.
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System; Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Blonigen
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Allison L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manfredi
authors.affiliation: Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Britt
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nevedal
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
authors.forename: Andrea K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Finlay
authors.affiliation: Veterans Justice Programs, Veterans Health Administration.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Health Care Organization and Implementation Research, Bedford VA Medical Center; University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smelson
authors.affiliation: HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System; Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Timko
keywords: Empirically-Based Treatments; Justice-Involved Veterans; Recidivism; Risk-Need-Responsivity