The Cobb County Veterans Treatment Court will graduate seven veterans at a 9 a.m. ceremony Friday at the Cobb Superior Court with Georgia Attorney General and former Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens as the keynote speaker.
The ceremony will mark the completion of a minimum 18-month intensive-treatment program designed to address the veterans’ roadblocks to success such as post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.
The VTC’s mission is to increase public safety by reducing recidivism, turn tax burdens into taxpayers and provide intensive case management and structure to veterans.
Of 774,464 Georgia veterans, 47,000 reside in Cobb County, including 4,500 active duty/reservists at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
VTC Presiding Judge Reuben Green said in a statement, “On average, one veteran is arrested each day in Cobb County. Many of these veterans have sacrificed greatly for our country and are suffering from post-service issues that have not been addressed or treated.”
According to data collected from the Department of Veteran Affairs from self-reporting veterans, 22 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide and about 70 percent of those veterans were not regular users of VA services.
With the Atlanta VA, the VTC strives to provide better alcohol and drug treatment by treating the veteran first at the Atlanta VA and then through WestCare.
Once participants are stable in their recovery and treatment, the VTC treatment team works on solving other issues such as unemployment, lack of stable housing, continuing education or family counseling.
One of the most unique aspects of the VTC is the mentor program for each participant to be paired with a veteran from the community who may better understand their challenges and help them succeed in the program.
Mentors must be honorably-discharged veterans with no criminal history and willing to commit to helping at least one veteran participant through the minimum 18-month-long program.
Information: 770-528-8101, 678-522-9261, Amanda.Marshall@CobbCounty.org.
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