Judge Halee Weinstein, an Administrative Judge for Baltimore City's District Court, discusses her role in Veteran Treatment Courts, which decrease recidivism and provide alternatives to the standard prosecution systems, while emphasizing mentorship and the special needs of veterans.
Judge Halee Weinstein, an Administrative Judge for Baltimore City's District Court, discusses her role in Veteran Treatment Courts, which decrease recidivism and provide alternatives to the standard prosecution systems, while emphasizing mentorship and the special needs of veterans.
I presided often over a specialized docket that we call the docket for homeless persons and it's a diversion program. And it was for people who were homeless and were charged with minor crimes drug possession, loitering, disorderly conduct riding on the light rail without paying for things like that. And the purpose of the court was to connect them to services the the defendants to services rather than prosecute them.
Charlie Malone:Welcome to Season Two of the policy vets podcast engaging with leaders, scholars and strong voices to fill the void in support of Policy Development for America's veterans. With your host former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. David Shulkin. And the Executive Director of Policy vets Lou Celli, today's guest judge Halle Weinstein, an administrative judge for the Baltimore City District Court.
Louis Celli:Dr. Franklin, I really want to thank you for stepping in. And being a guest host today with with the secretary out of town. And, you know, I'd like for people to hear a little bit about your background, if they haven't listened to the podcast that we did with you a couple of months back. So if you wouldn't mind, you tell people while you make the perfect host today,
Keita Franklin:thank you so much, you're too kind, I am just thrilled to be here with you and to be able to get on the other side of the microphone, if you will. I'm a social worker by training. My background is in suicide prevention and trauma. But I've spent a full career working with the active duty in the veteran population, trying to make sure we're providing the best care for these populations, where they work, live and thrive. So that's why I'm here today. You've worked
Louis Celli:with a variety of different agencies, you you were the Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Department of Defense, and then VA came in stole you away. So you know, when people think about VA, they they don't commonly think about an institute of innovation. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Keita Franklin:Well, I know, I think people do have this tendency to think that the VA is this big bureaucratic machine. And that, you know, clearly innovation can't occur in a government entity. But you know, that's absolutely not the case. And lots of first innovative sort of things for health care. And even in the field of mental health care originated in the VA, actually, the VA is like a large institution that's able to fund some of them. And I think we'll hear more about that today. When we talk to our when we talk to our judge about the veteran treatment courts, this is also appear a form of innovation, if you will.
Louis Celli:And it's interesting, I remember hearing the term pack, you know, for a patient line care teams at the VA long before I heard people talking about interdisciplinary teams at, you know, non VA or non military hospitals. So, VA really is at the cutting edge of being at the front of innovation.
Keita Franklin:Yeah, I think this idea when you're able to embed mental health providers into primary care settings, and when you're able to bring cross disciplinary approaches to some of our most complex problems, whether that's PTSD or TBI, or any number of healthcare issues, when you bring education and nursing and physical health care and mental health care and, and those sorts of disciplines together, you you get the best solutions. I think
Louis Celli:one of the reasons I'm excited to have our guests today is because, you know, we're talking about different ways to help veterans who are, you know, going through life and experiencing, really, you know, just some, some changes from their military service to, you know, to what they find themselves in the civilian world. And, you know, you and I had talked a little bit about this earlier, but veteran treatment courts are, you know, their unique way of dealing with either substance abuse or, or mental health issues, depression. And this is a field that you're you're pretty well versed in.
Keita Franklin:Okay, so appreciate that we have these veteran treatment courts. And I know we'll learn more about this today. But this idea of a veteran having been through quite a bit of trauma, whether that's wartime trauma, or pre existing traumas before they join the military, or even sexual assault trauma, and the idea that that the trauma might have contributed to their current situation. And taking that lens through these veteran treatment courts, I think allows them to potentially have a second chance, a second chance on life and a chance to get back on track.
Louis Celli:You know, I can tell you that the when I was at Legion, we lobbied for veteran treatment courts at the federal level, and that was really to establish a grant program so that the states and the in the counties had money to start these veteran treatment courts. So, you know, when we talk about being able to have support systems in place, I think it's really important to recognize that it's a partnership between the state and federal levels.
Keita Franklin:Yeah, I think so. I mean, its state its federal use, you hear about nonprofit sectors that need to come to bear even, you know, public private folks working together is really that sweet spot where where there's Where the care actually can be delivered in the best possible way.
Louis Celli:Our guest today is Judge Weinstein. She's an Army veteran. She's got a really interesting backstory who spearheaded the veteran's treatment court in Baltimore.
Keita Franklin:I know, I can't wait to talk to her because in part, she's a woman. And it's, we, you know, we've been celebrating a lot of women lately, especially women veterans, so I'm super excited to hear more about her story.
Louis Celli:Yeah. You know, Judge Weinstein was a lieutenant in the army. And then she came out as gay and and ended up going to law school. But there's a story in between there.
Keita Franklin:Yeah. It'll be super interesting to hear. Also, her father was a three star Army General, the highest ranking military intelligence officer in the army. And I think it was he that suggested she go to law school.
Louis Celli:Yeah, it's it's a fascinating story, and I really can't wait to get to it. So let's hear all about it. Terrific. Judge Weinstein, welcome to the policy vets podcast. Hey, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today.
Halee Weinstein:Thanks for inviting me. I'm really honored to be able to be here and talk about one of my favorite subjects. And that's veterans treatment courts.
Keita Franklin:Yes, Judge Weinstein, we're really interested in hearing about how those veteran treatment courts work. But before we get started, we know you're a veteran yourself, right?
Halee Weinstein:I am indeed a Veteran. I'm also a, I'm also an army brat, which i i wear that label proudly. So I grew up in the army. At right I was in ROTC in college. And then I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the military intelligence branch in 1984.
Louis Celli:What I found extremely interesting when I when I first started looking at some of your background and your history, and I was I was trying to think about, you know, what may have motivated you to start this veteran's treatment court. And one of the things that you're you've been vocal about in the past, and you've you've really embraced is kind of your own personal military journey, which, which is different than a lot of the guests that we've had here. You know, not not everybody comes away from the military with a positive experience. And yours is quite unique. If you don't mind, would you share some of that with us?
Halee Weinstein:Yeah, I sure will share it. Now, I would say that my experience in the in the army was not positive. Much of it was positive. I think probably everybody's experience is both positive and negative in some ways. So mine was, it was life altering, I'll say that I still am experiencing the trauma from what I went through in the army. When I was in college. As I said, I was in ROTC, I started to realize that, that I might be gay. I wasn't sure it was a very confusing time. And we have to keep in mind that this was in the early 1980s. So the times were different than I and I didn't, I didn't want to accept that I was a lesbian. I remember, you know, thinking or praying, you know, Please, God, don't make me be gay. Because I knew that. It would be a difficult time for me. And, you know, when people are starting to come out, they're concerned that they're going to lose their friends. They're, they're concerned that their their families are going to disown them. So it was difficult in by that time, after I started to question my sexuality. I had already basically committed to the army because I had been awarded an ROTC scholarship. I tried in college to get out of that commitment. And I was told that if I did that, it might affect my father's career. And at that time, my father, I think he had his first star. So he was a general in the military intelligence branch, and so obviously didn't want to do anything to hurt his career. So I kept, I kept going one foot in front of the other. I was commissioned. And then I attended my officer basic course, out at Fort Huachuca when my father was the commander of the intelligence school. Wow. And then, yeah, I was literally the generals daughter. So then I graduated, and my first assignment was at Fort Bragg and the 5/19 in my battalion, in a brigade that my father had commanded when I was in high school, so I don't think I really realized how, you know how many eyes were on me, but clearly they were And at some point, a soldier, a Special Forces captain, who was a friend of one of my roommates asked me out on a date, I didn't go out with him, I probably would have I just didn't couldn't go out with him when I had time, because at this time, again, still didn't know what my sexuality was. And then he claiming to be concerned that the Russians would would blackmail my father reported me to dia, who then turned the investigation over to CID. So I was I was pulled off a pre jump in our battalion area. I was told I needed to get to Cid, I asked if I could do my jump that day. They said no, if you don't come now, we'll send a car to get you in that car won't, you won't be able to get out of the back seat of that car. So I was 23 years old, brand new Second Lieutenant went to Cid, they read me my rights. They told me I was being investigated for sodomy and conduct unbecoming an officer. And I felt my world collapsing around me. I invoke my fifth amendment right. And I didn't ask any questions. And at the time, my parents were TDY, in either South or Central America. And I was told that the the JAG corps would meet my parents at National Airport when they got off the plane to brief them about what was going on. So at that point, my, you know, I lost my clearance, I was pulled off jump status. I wasn't I was about to be promoted, I wasn't promoted. And so over the next couple of months, the army conducted a criminal investigation much like, I'm sure you've read about and heard about the witch hunts that went on during that period of time. So they brought my friends in coworkers and interview them. And when they didn't have enough evidence to court martial me. They move to administratively discharged me and so I ended up resigning in lieu of elimination. I got a general discharge, and then I had to start my life again.
Louis Celli:So that that is an absolutely horrifying experience. I personally, am sorry that you had to go through that I'm I'm somewhat relieved that the you know that the rules are different now. That doesn't, that doesn't fix or repair what what you had to go through. And, you know, as our listeners know, you know, one of the things that we wanted to talk to you about today was veterans treatments, veteran treatment courts. But if you don't mind, I just wanted to follow up a little bit on this, just pull the thread just for a second. I'm a little curious. At what point did the military did the military out you to your parents or No, no, was that a conversation you were able to have with them, and maybe they were a little bit better prepared to deal with it.
Halee Weinstein:So you know, the army can be small world organization, especially military intelligence. So my brigade commander I had known since I was a child. He and his wife lived across the street from us when we were living in Munich, Germany. And he and my father knew each other very well. And we're good friends and had worked together. So and this is something I've only learned in the past few years. Colonel Patterson was his name. One of the best people I've ever known in my life. He and his wife are wonderful people they convinced or Colonel Patterson convinced the higher ups to let them drive me from Fort Bragg up to Fort Myer, Virginia, where my parents were living, Colonel Patterson went in the house to tell my parents and I'm going to apologize to you. And to the folks listening. This is always the part when I cry when I tell them a story. So Colonel Patterson went in the house and his wife and I drove around Arlington Cemetery. So she could, she could visit some people she knew in the cemetery. And then after a short period of time, we went in the house. And my parents asked me if it was true. And I said, Yes. I have wonderful parents. Now, my father's been gone for many years, but a wonderful man in so many ways. They were very supportive. They offered to hire an attorney for me. I already had a Jag lawyer. I, I said the Jaguar was fine. My father said that he wished he could do something to help me. But one of the things about my father Is that, above all, he was a person of integrity. He would never use his position in a way that was inappropriate. So they supported me through through the investigation. They helped support me financially. When I left the army. My father eventually, as the years went on, I believe he was on the advisory board for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network after President Clinton, then candidate Clinton had promised to lift the ban on gay and lesbian people serving my father lobbied he was he was retired by then he lobbied senators and other people to help convince them that the ban should be lifted
Louis Celli:within a Weinstein. Let me just say that, first of all, it's an honor to have you with us. It's it's, it's, it's specifically appropriate to have you now during women Veterans History Month, I want to thank you for your service. I want to thank you for joining us today. And I want to thank you for sharing your story. I know how difficult that that must have been for you. And thank you for, for agreeing to speak with us not only about veteran's treatment courts, but really about your journey and how you ended up here.
Halee Weinstein:I appreciate the opportunity to share my story, and then hopefully, talk about the veterans treatment courts.
Keita Franklin:Absolutely. And I think that's, you know, we'll we'll roll right into that. But your story, I my best guess is that it informs quite a bit of your work with the veteran treatment courts. And you know, I'm a social worker by training and have extensive knowledge of the importance of veteran treatment courts, but I don't think everybody knows about them. And so can we just start there with you sort of sharing with our audience? What exactly is a veteran's treatment court?
Halee Weinstein:Well, a veteran's Treatment Court is what we call a problem solving court. And I think a lot of people have heard about drug treatment courts. And so veteran treatment courts are modeled after veterans treatment courts. In fact, the very first one was created in 2008, by Judge Robert Russell in Buffalo, who was a drug treatment court judge. And one day he had a veteran appear in front of him. And I think the light bulb went off in his head about, we need to do things a little differently for veterans who have substance use disorder, or mental health disorders. And, you know, he reached out to partners in the community to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and he started the first Veterans Treatment Court.
Keita Franklin:Wow, I had no idea that that that that was the early beginning. Yeah,
Halee Weinstein:it that it was that long ago, and it's taken a while for other states to adopt the model of veterans treatment courts. But when we started our court in 2015, I think that there were maybe 100 150, I probably have the number wrong. But now I think there are well over 400 of these courts across the country.
Louis Celli:So can you tell us a little bit about how you saw the need for specialized intervention for veterans? I mean, and how did you go about setting it up? This is the only one, you know, here in the in this area. And it really it wasn't something that the county or the state wanted to implement this something you wanted to implement, and then you got support for it?
Halee Weinstein:Well, that's that is. A lot of what you just said is correct. Let me let me just correct a few things. And that is, there were other veterans treatment courts in the area. In fact, Fairfax County has one and involved in Maryland, Prince George's County Circuit Court was actually the first court Veterans Treatment Court to launch in the state of Maryland. And they they launched a couple months before we did so our court is the first district court veteran's treatment court in the state of Maryland. And we also have several others and Arundel County has a district court Veterans Treatment Court. We have a regional Veterans Treatment Court on the eastern shore, and I believe four counties have their veterans participate in that court. So so we were not the only one and in fact, we were not the first one in Maryland. I need to, you know, give a shout out to Prince George's County. Absolutely. So I I presided often over a specialized docket that we call the docket for homeless persons, and it's a diversion program. And it was for people who were homeless and were charged with minor crimes, drug possession, loitering, disorderly conduct, riding on the light rail without, without paying for things like that. And the purpose of the court was to connect them to services the the defendants to services rather than prosecute them. And so as long as they engaged in services for a period of time, then this state's attorney, which is our prosecutor's office, we call them State's Attorney, some jurisdictions refer to them as district attorneys, then the State's Attorneys would dismiss their cases. And while I was presiding over that court, I noticed that a number of the defendants were veterans. This was in 2014. And, and even though it was not a problem solving court, the docket for homeless persons had a lot of community partners, Health Care for the Homeless, the United Way of Central Maryland. homeless persons representation project, service providers would actually be in the courtroom. So we didn't have to have the defendants sent somewhere to talk to somebody because we often lose people when we ask them to go somewhere after court is over. And so after adopted, I just called up the state attorney, the public defender, and one of the service providers and I said, Hey, why don't why don't we start a veterans docket? Having no idea at all about the story I just told you about Judge Robert Russell. Wow. In Buffalo, I didn't know that there were formal veteran's treatment courts. And you know, it was kind of funny, because nobody wants to correct a judge. So we would we were going along with these meetings, and I would, you know, say, Hey, how about this idea? And how about that idea? And then finally, somebody said, why don't we look on the justice for vets website. So justice for vets is the national organization that supports veterans treatment courts and provides training opportunities. So so we started meeting, we brought on the Department of Veterans Affairs, we brought on service providers, the United Way was instrumental in coordinating the service providers, parole and probation, Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which is our our our division of correction. And we started planning for the Veterans Treatment Court. And I, you know, I like to boast about this. From our first meeting in December of 2014, we officially officially launched in October of 2015. So less than a year, and with no extra money, everybody volunteered their time their agencies, let them be part of this program. You know, I like to advocate, please, all over the country start these courts. And I just want people to know it's not easy, especially in smaller jurisdictions where you don't have a lot of extra you don't have extra judges or extra docket time. And you don't have a lot of money, but you can get started without those things. Although it's better to have, it is better to have grant money if you if you can get it to fund positions, which we do have now.
Keita Franklin:Yeah, it sounds like it's like an all hands on deck approach when it comes to this need for interdisciplinary teams. Do you have I mean, what else would you share for folks about how the teams have to work together across government, private sector, public sector? How does all that come together?
Halee Weinstein:Right, it's absolutely an interdisciplinary team. So it's comprised the team, the treatment team, is the judge, the prosecutor, defense attorneys, case managers, parole and probation, the Veterans Justice Outreach specialists from the VA and some other service providers. Those are the core treatment team members and we absolutely coordinate we meet before every docket, we often communicate between dockets if, you know, we're trying to get somebody into treatment or somebody we know somebody is having a particularly hard time. We we talk about that, you know, on days other than docket days. And, and in Baltimore, we're, we're lucky to be in a city because we have the VA hospital right there. We're close to parry point, which has residential beds. We have been able to send some of our veterans to Martinsburg so we are very lucky about that. But we also have a lot of local agencies who provide substance use disorder treatment. to veterans. We have the Maryland Center for veterans education and treatment and training. Sorry, we have project plays Baltimore station. We also partner with the Warrior Canine connection. And they actually bring their, their service dogs in training their their older puppies, to the courthouse into the courtroom. And before the docket starts our veterans help train those future service dogs that will hopefully one day go to a wounded warrior or their family.
Louis Celli:It's okay to talk to a lot about the interdisciplinary teams and how important they are. You talked a little bit about the partners. How important are your partners and is it a big network,
Halee Weinstein:the partners are critical to the success of veterans treatment courts, and we have so many partners federal, state and local partners. As part of the Baltimore City Veterans Treatment Court. I've already mentioned a few of them. MC vet Healthcare for the Homeless. I talked about how important the United Way of Central Maryland is. Warrior Canine connection. Easterseals asked to be a partner and they help with providing resumes and job training and helping veterans get jobs. The University of Baltimore School of Law, they have a veterans clinic, their student attorneys actually represent the veterans in their cases and veterans treatment courts in the criminal cases. And they also represent veterans in their civil legal matters, for example, appealing the denial of benefits or trying to get their ratings increased. The American Red Cross is involved in our program, we just started a community service opportunity with them that our veterans in order to earn community service hours, write letters to other veterans through the American Red Cross, we have to local organizations, Sharp Dressed Man and dress for success that will provide a suit to the graduates both both men and women. The six branch is a local community service organization or a local organization in Baltimore city that was founded by veterans, it's run by veterans, and they do community service projects in East Baltimore. So our veterans can earn community service hours by working with the six branch. So it is truly a collaboration and a team effort.
Louis Celli:I'm absolutely sure that that veterans are caught off guard when they recognize, you know, what a comprehensive team is working with them in a situation where they thought that maybe they were facing a judge and either getting a fine or, you know, possibly going to jail. I wonder how are cases referred to the veteran's treatment court? How what's the screening criteria?
Halee Weinstein:Well, I'm also really proud of this. And I think this is one of the things that's unique to Baltimore City is, you know, I had been a prosecutor before I became a judge. And I knew a lot of people from, you know, from my prior life, as a prosecutor, for example, I was I had a good working relationship with the warden of our local central booking facility. And what I wanted to do is to try to get veterans identified at the time of arrest at the time of booking. And I wanted to be able to see them as soon as I possibly could. We had visited Fairfax County, which also has an excellent Veterans Treatment Court, their population is a little bit different. So, for example, we went our team went to watch how they did things. And they had, I think, four veterans on Well, three veterans and actually an active duty officer on their docket. So they had a retired general, I think, a retired colonel, an active duty colonel, and a senior NCO. We don't I'm I've never seen a general or a colonel in my Veterans Treatment Court. And we have a much more serious substance use problem in Baltimore City. So I wanted to see them as soon as possible. I didn't want to ask them to try to apply to our court, which a lot of courts do and I understand why they do it. So I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing them in any way. So what happens is the booking officers ask everybody who's arrested? Not if they're a veteran, right? Because we all know that people even if they are veterans don't identify themselves as veterans. They think they have to vote right, be retired for 20 years have served in combat, and doctor, you know, be a male and be a male. Right. And I was going to say that we know that women answer that question in the negative at a much higher rate than men do. So we asked the booking officers to ask Have you ever served in the military, in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard. Now this is a little funny tidbit, we also learned that we had to ask them to say, Have you ever served in the United States military, because we had somebody arrested who had been in a foreign military, so they actually mark the paperwork with a V. And then those veterans if they're charged with a misdemeanor, because the in in Maryland, the district courts handles misdemeanor crimes, they're set in front of me on an arraignment docket within two weeks of their arrest. And so we accomplish a few things. That way, I see them quickly, we can get them refer to treatment much more quickly, if they want to participate in the program. But on that day, their attorney explains to them the program, it's completely voluntary, they make a decision about whether they want they think they want to come into the program. But if they don't, we have the VJ, O, sitting in the courtroom. And if if we know that they're eligible for health care through the VA, she can start the process for getting them registered. Or even if they're already registered, and they haven't been receiving their treatment at the VA, she can help link them to treatment at the VA, whether they come into the program or not. So that that is a couple reasons that it was important to me to see the defense of the defendants, the veteran defendants as soon as possible. And then we we want to try to make the criteria as broad as possible. So really, the the only veterans that we don't accept are our veterans who are charged with a sex offense. And otherwise, if we can we offer them the ability to participate in our Veterans Treatment Court.
Keita Franklin:Now, I appreciate your talking about just the urgency of getting them in and the fact that there it sounds a little bit like fast tracked right into the veteran treatment court, in part also from from my perspective is just this need for if a veteran is in crisis, because they are involved in some sort of a legal trouble crisis is like the ripe opportunity for change, and for perhaps them to begin to ask for help and receive help and, and use crisis as an opportunity to get their lives on track. And the fact that you're willing to do it as quickly as possible after the sort of crisis occurs, I think also plays into their their I suspect plays into their willingness to receive services and get the help they need. So I think kudos as well, like just sort of being able to fast track it and so that there's no downtime or complacency after the the legal the crisis, if you will, but can you share some of your just generally speaking, lessons learned since you've stood it up? Like what is shocked you the most? Or? Or what are some of the biggest lessons for somebody that doesn't know about veteran's treatment court to learn about?
Halee Weinstein:Well, I think the the biggest lesson is that veterans treatment courts are successful. And and, you know, success is defined in many different ways. You know, it's it can be defined statistically. Which is important, right. But, but I think that we also have to define success in other ways. So, you know, some of the people who have come in in the court have very serious mental health issues, have, they have issues in that they don't have stable housing. So for somebody who has, or serious medical issues, for example, like a stroke, and so cognitively, they have a really hard time following all the rules of the Veterans Treatment Court because they can't keep track of sure they have to go to court or or when their hearing is, but if we can get that veteran in HUD VASH housing, to me, that's a success, because we have taken somebody without stable housing and been able to get them in stable housing. So statistically, I would say we have a very, very low recidivism rate in our Veterans Treatment Court. And so that I think is another way to look at how these programs are successful, and I think and you know, somebody, again, like justice for vets who they have all the information on all the courts across the country, but I think statistically, veterans treatment courts have a much lower recidivism rate than other problem solving courts, and certainly from defendants who have not gone through problem solving court.
Louis Celli:Yeah, no, I think you're right is matter of fact, I was I was reading a study by NIH back in 2018, that that supports a lot of those findings. One of the things that I'm curious about is, is there a category for your veterans who have completed the program successfully? Do you do you consider them alumni? Do they come back and and volunteer other receptions? Late? I mean, I don't know how does this work?
Halee Weinstein:Well, we don't we consider all the graduates to be alumni. And we even say, to the people who haven't successfully completed, which is a very small number, we are here, the second, third and fourth Tuesday of every month, if you need help you come back to us. So we do have people who have graduated and or who have not graduated, come back. But when somebody graduates we have, you know, a little ceremony, and I present them with a specially designed challenge coin. They also present a challenge coin to their mentor. And right, so we need to talk about mentors. And so if if you've heard anything about veterans court, I'm sure you've heard the term that mentors are the secret sauce of veterans treatment courts, because every veteran when they stand before me in the courtroom, they have a volunteer veteran mentor. And it's like they have a battle buddy, the mentors can talk to them before court after court, some of them talk to them on on, you know, the off weeks. Sometimes, if if a veteran I know is not being particularly honest with me, I will have the mentor, take them out in the hallway and have a conversation with them as if they're their squad leader, a conversation that I can't have with them as a judge sitting on the bench. So anyway, so they also present their mentor with a challenge coin, to thank them for helping them get through the program.
Keita Franklin:Well, this is true to military culture, though, like you're leveraging the pre existing goodness of military culture I on this challenge coin piece.
Halee Weinstein:Absolutely. And the other thing that we do, and I have to tell you that most of these ideas we stole from other courts at at the annual conference. So we have we have all the service flags. In the courtroom, we also have a POW, flag. Wow. Okay. And every veteran who graduates, our mentor coordinators, mother makes them a streamer with their name and their date of graduation. And we hang that on their service flag. So if there were Marine, it's it's gold, the streamers gold, and it goes on the Marine Corps flag, right.
Keita Franklin:It's a bit of a celebration, if you will. It is a it is a bit of Yeah, absolutely. This leverages peer support. Like in my field, we talk a lot about the power peer support, and the idea that military and veterans can often get the most help from one of their own. And you're also leveraging that, too. So I think that's pretty incredible.
Louis Celli:So you talked a little bit about mentors, and I'm just curious that I mean, if a veteran if I write were interested in in volunteering to become a mentor for the program,
Halee Weinstein:how does that work? Well, specifically, in our program, our mentor coordinator is actually an employee of the United Way of Central Maryland. And that is, if I may, that's something else. That's, I think, a little unique to our program. And instead of the court coordinator, and the case manager and the mentor coordinator, being court employees, the court gives the United Way, a grant, and then the United Way, hires those people for us or pays those folks. So they're actually United Way employees. That way, we didn't have to wait for a position in in in the state courts to hire those folks. So anyway, in Baltimore City, you would email Justin McNabb at the United Way, in other courts. I'm sure there's a way you can google those those courts and volunteer and we absolutely need mentors in Baltimore City. Every court needs mentors. And those folks, we have mentors who are Vietnam veterans, we have mentors, who are post 911. Veterans, we have mentors in between we have mentors who are in recovery, who have been sober for 30 years, and they can really talk the talk with with the veterans.
Louis Celli:We're just about a time. But before we go, one of the things that we that we always want to make sure that we do is we give our guests really the the opportunity to wrap up anything or to bring back anything we may have missed. And we want to make sure we give you the last word. So is there anything that that you'd like to bring up about the veteran treatments courts that we haven't touched on yet?
Halee Weinstein:Well, if I may, I just I want to say that I am a veteran. Most of these veterans treatment courts are started by judges who are veterans, but they don't have to be you know, it, can it be better maybe because veterans understand the language, we speak the same language, we have a connection. But I would much rather a passionate, committed judge get a veteran's treatment courts started in their jurisdiction, even if they're not a veteran. So I do what I do. Because, you know, what I learned from my father is you have to love soldiers. And if you take care of soldiers, your soldiers will take care of the mission. And the mission of the veterans in our program is their recovery. And our mission is to provide sort of wraparound services to them, to help them by having all the tools in place that they need to be successful in their recovery.
Louis Celli:Josh Weinstein, I just want to thank you again for joining us on the policy. That's podcast. Thank you so much.
Halee Weinstein:Thank you very much for letting me be here today.
Louis Celli:And that is it. That's all the time that we have for this week. So join us next week as we wrap up women Veterans History Month, with PBA, National Vice President Tammy Jones, and PVA national director and Robinson, Tammy and and lead PBAs and Anita Blum, women Veterans Committee. These are two women who are going to be able to shed some light on what it takes to be a woman in the military and some of the things that they face. You're not going to want to miss this episode. We'll see you next week.
Charlie Malone:Thanks for listening to the policy bets podcasts. For more information about projects and other podcasts, go to policy. That's dot org.