Community Veteran Justice Project

CVJP aims to connect justice-involved veterans to mental health services in Los Angeles County. Through community-based, peer-supported, and culturally sensitive interventions, CVJP addresses the unique mental health challenges faced by this vulnerable population of veterans, fostering a healthier, more supportive environment. By moving past the stigma ingrained in military culture and addressing the aversion to seeking mental health care, we aim to reduce the alarming rate of 22 veteran suicides per day.

This grant will allow us to expand assistance to LA area Veterans and their families by ensuring our Veteran clients receive the maximum benefit from the California Veteran alternative sentencing statutes. We will enhance our outreach to ensure maximum awareness among veterans who are in legal trouble while enhancing our educational programs for California defense attorneys. These attorneys often need assistance in applying the statues that were specifically designed to help break the cycle of veteran incarceration, homelessness, and suicide.

CVJP would like support to expand to college Veteran Resource Centers (VRCs) covering LA County. This expansion would allow veteran work-study students to become CVJ workers at individual VRCs, increasing staff to provide supervision and perform follow-up on cases. CVJP will be able to intervene with more vets and connect them with comprehensive services across LA County that allow them to seek college, entrepreneurship, home buying, healthy families, and overall wellness opportunities.