Noble Intent Is Not Enough To Run Veterans Court Mentoring Programs: A Qualitative Study of Mentors’ Role Orientation and Responsibilities

Abstract

Mentoring is a key component of veterans treatment courts, a diversionary problemsolving court for justice-involved military veterans. Mentoring programs are unique to veterans' courts; no other problem-solving courts systematically include them as critical components of their court programming. Despite their prominence in veterans courts, little is known about mentor program operations and court expectations for mentors' roles and responsibilities. This study examines mentors' roles and responsibilities as perceived by mentees, mentors, and veterans treatment court staff.Using in-depth interview data from respondents from each of these groups, supplemented by observational data from court hearings and pre-court meetings, we identify three types of mentoring styles: enforcers, sponsor/advocates, and friend. We find a lack of clarity in mentors' roles and responsibilities, which negatively impacted mentor-mentee relationships and mentors' relationships with the court. The three mentoring styles identified in this study offer veterans treatment courts a framework to shape and refine the mentor role and guide future efforts to provide standardized training for mentors.

Veterans Treatment Courts: An Exploratory Analysis of the Effect of Veteran Mentors

“…A unique component across VTCs, compared with other problem-solving courts, is peer support provided by a veteran mentor (Douds et al, 2021). Mentors help VTC participants navigate the criminal justice system, behavioral health providers, and other service systems (e.g., employment, housing, and the VA).…”

“…It is not clear how VTC mentors contribute to the purported success of VTCs (Douds et al, 2021;Douds & Hummer, 2019). Limited research has empirically investigated the effect of veteran mentorship on VTC participants' behavioral health, graduation, and criminal justice outcomes (P. A.…”

“…Many VTCs include a mentorship component in which other veterans support participants as they navigate court and treatment requirements (Jalain & Grossi, 2020; Timko et al, 2017). Qualitative research has highlighted the various roles that mentors have within VTCs (Douds et al, 2021); however, it is unclear if mentors contribute to a reduction in behavioral health symptoms or criminal justice involvement. The purpose of the current study is to explore the effect of mentorship on behavioral health and criminal justice outcomes.…”