Victories for Veterans.

Byline: Bill Cresenzo

In Harnett County, just a few miles north of Fort Bragg, judicial officials are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the county's Veterans Treatment Court, North Carolina's first court designed to help veteran offenders get their lives back on track.

But the court's grant money will run out in September of next year, and if it can't find more funds, the gavel will fall on it for good. Advocates, citing the hundreds of veterans the court has helped over the past five years, say would be unacceptable.

"For those who have accepted the treatment court in their lives, they are an entirely different person, and you can see that in their demeanor, in their attitude toward life," said Harnett County Chief District Court Judge Jackie Lee, who presides over the court. "They have a better feeling about themselves. If they have family, they are more engaged with their families. It's a win-win situation."

The VTC is an alternative to the state judicial system for veterans who commit misdemeanor and low-level felony crimes. It provides substance abuse treatment, strict monitoring, and therapy, under the motto, "Keeping Free Those Who Kept Us Free."

The Harnett County VTC first convened in 2014 with money from the state. That money stopped after two years, but the court was able to secure $1.3 million in grants to operate for the next three years.

Now, Mark Teachey, the director of the court, and others involved in the county VTC are searching for new ways to cover the costs of the administration and the treatment of veterans who appear in the court. The directors other VTCs in North Carolina can relate to what Harnett County is now facing.

"Veterans Treatment Courts are an invaluable resource which all too often don't receive adequate funding, but plenty of verbal praise, from legislatures,' said Kevin Rumley, director of the Buncombe County VTC.

That court just received a Department of Justice grant that will start in January and will fund the court for four years. In the meantime, Rumley said that he has had to get creative. He started as director for the court in September 2017, just as a grant from the Governor's Crime Commission was about to expire. Rumley said he "frantically" scrambled to find the money to keep the court open.

He found a hodgepodge of funding sources, including the local ABC Commission, the county commissioners and N.C. Brookhaven Behavioral Health, a veteran-owned small business that provides behavioral...