Table 2.

Availability and utility of services and resources to address recidivism risk factors among justice-involved veterans.

		Helpful services and resources (cross-cutting themes and sample quotes)
Risk factor	Number (%) of Specialists reporting that services and resources were available	Peer-based services	MI/CBT techniques (brief, informal)	Cognitive-behavioral interventions (structured groups)
Substance abuse	63 (100%)	“We have three peer support specialists, which I think is important for our justice-involved veterans and veterans with substance use disorders to have somebody to help them navigate through the recovery process and to be a good, pro-social kind of peer mentor to look up to and just to be there for support through the recovery process.”	“Implementing MI techniques and interventions with justice-involved veterans with substance use disorders have been really helpful to help me build rapport with these veterans, assess treatment motivation and treatment needs and help get them engaged in treatment.”	“It just seems that with substance abuse we see a lot of the stuff that goes with the Moral Reconation. We see the same kinds of world view and ways the guys are, that’s just where they’re at, is kind of with the personality traits. And so we definitely try to steer guys into that, the Moral Reconation Treatment group.”
Lack of positive school or work involvement	63 (100%)	“We have a Peer Support Program where they can be referred there to help them… if they have a job fair coming up, transport them, make sure they get there, make sure they have their resume. Anytime they have community resources or people who are currently hiring they’re able to help them as far as filling out applications and getting to interviews, things like that.”
Family/marital dysfunction	59 (94%)
Lack of prosocial activities/interests	54 (86%)	“I think here again, that peer support connection is a positive piece, because they can talk on that vet-to-vet level and maybe share some of the things that have been helpful for him. And connect them to those service organizations and those activities, and help them explore some leisure type of things.”
Antisocial tendencies	36 (57%)	“Even though a lot of the literature talks about some of those factors like personality are really hard to change, the truth is we know that the majority of folks do change and that is takes time, and that folks need help and encouragement with it, so…And I think that’s another way to incorporate that peer support specialist, specifically if we got somebody who had actually served time themselves”	“I think that the motivational interviewing techniques really help out a lot to get you to get past all of the resistance and the blaming to really what are their goals, what are their aspirations, their desires, their warmth, and how can I help.” “I have previously been trained in CBT, so I use a lot of CBT intervention and homework assignments and changing thoughts, and looking at cognitive distortions and things like that.	“The best evidence-based practice for that is MRT or corrective thinking. Or Thinking for a Change or some of those others corrections- based programs.” “I do think that there are some DBT skills that they can benefit from. But I definitely think in kind of looking at evidence-based practices that with the court and with people who are high recidivists who have these traits, that it’s really imperative to have some type of group, like MRT or Thinking for a Change.”
Antisocial associates	32 (51%)	“I also talk about the recovery process. It’s a lifestyle change. It’s not just I stopped drugs; you have to stop associating yourself with people who use drugs. And so we really highlight that piece to it. I also utilize peers in that process because we can have the conversation, but I find that it has far more meaning when it comes from a peer than it does from a clinician.”	“Sometimes in MRT when people have talked about that, about how it’s difficult to be able to let go of some relationships that they know are probably harmful to them, we would do motivational interviewing, I think it’s the veteran’s choice who they decide to be with. But you know, I think providing alternatives, talking about social situations that may be different.” “It’s never a good idea to be around somebody who’s engaging in criminal activity when you're trying to do something different… So I would probably attack kind of those thought processes… I would use motivational and obviously the cognitive behavioral [approaches] and try and help them see that that’s probably not a good idea.”	“MRT really is about decision- making and about where you have been, what decisions have you made up to this point in your life, and what decisions do you want to make? What kind of life do you want to have for yourself as you look forward in the future? And a lot of that is about the people that are in your life. So it’s about repairing damaged relationships with the people that you love. And oftentimes it involves severing ties with people who do drugs and commit crimes and do those kinds of things.”

Notes. n = 63. MI = motivational interviewing; CBT = cognitive-behavioral therapy; MRT = Moral Reconation Therapy; DBT = Dialectical Behavior Therapy.