Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO), a Marine Corps combat veteran and a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, applauded the passage of two of his bills— H.R. 2147 the ‘Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act’ and H.R. 4635, the ‘Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act’. Both bills were passed with unanimous support.
“As a Marine Corps combat veteran, I live by the rule that ‘we never leave anyone behind’ and that always includes our veterans,” said Coffman. “The Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act’ and the ‘Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act’ address key gaps in how we help veterans. Both bills build upon already proven models to help those who have served our country.”
The ‘Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act’ will enhance the effectiveness of veteran’s treatment courts. It does so by requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire 50 additional Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists. The veteran’s courts provide tailored treatments to veterans caught up in our judicial system for relatively minor offenses. In the 18th Judicial District of Colorado’s Veterans Treatment Court, 73% of veterans who received VJO’s assistance, and completed the court’s requirements with the aid of a VJO, did not commit new violations.
“I deeply appreciate Congressman Coffman’s work on expanding a program that has a successful track record in giving veterans, who have fallen into our criminal justice system, a second chance at avoiding incarceration through rehabilitation,” said George Brauchler, an Army Iraq War veteran and the District Attorney for Colorado’s 18th Judicial District.
The ‘Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act’ ensures that the VA’s existing peer-to-peer counseling program has a sufficient numbers of female peer counselors who will be able to better serve our nation’s growing female veteran population of veterans. The bill emphasizes that these new Peer-2-Peer Counselors will be available to help women who’ve experienced sexual trauma while serving in the military, are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from multiple combat tours of duty, or have other mental health conditions that make it difficult for them to readjust to civilian life and puts them at risk for homelessness and even suicide.
“Rep. Coffman is a leader on veteran’s issues, and time and time again has worked in a bipartisan way to ensure veterans have access to the care and resources they have earned. He once again has shown his commitment to our nation’s heroes by putting forward two important bills this week— the ‘Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act’ and the ‘Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act’. As a strong supporter of drug treatment courts, I am grateful for Rep. Coffman’s continued leadership, he is an invaluable asset to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and to our nations’ veterans,” said the House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman and Army Veteran, Dr. Phil Roe (R-TN).
H.R. 2147 the ‘Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act’ and H.R. 4635, the ‘Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act’ are now on their way to the Senate for final consideration.
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