When Thank You Is Not Enough

As a veteran and licensed clinical social worker, RanDee McLain Malone, Ph.D. has been a driving force behind helping justice, treatment, and social service professionals better respond to female veterans. In this episode, RanDee shares her insight into the unique challenges female veterans face and talks with Butch about overcoming barriers to identifying female veterans, ways to avoid retraumatizing them, understanding where to find additional gender-specific support, and the many ways in which our justice and treatment responses can better offer a “whole-person approach.”

After 9/11, Jesse Holton put his law enforcement career on hold and joined the United States Marine Corps. Following his decorated service, he returned to law enforcement with a new perspective on the challenges some veterans face when they come home. In episode 6, Jesse sits down with Butch to discuss how law enforcement can support veterans in crisis and the often-untapped benefits of ensuring law enforcement is an active part of any community-based intervention. He offers keen insight into building trust with veterans and how this work is changing the culture of law enforcement. As Butch says, “This dude just gets it.”

Paige Ott served in the United States Navy. Her experience was transformative and positive, but her transition out of the military was anything but smooth. Her life was changed in a Nebraska courtroom, where instead of punishment she was connected to treatment and recovery support. As a certified peer recovery support specialist, Paige now uses her lived experience to help other veterans going through similar difficulties. As the founder of a nonprofit supporting veterans, she fosters community and empowers veterans to achieve and sustain recovery. You won’t want to miss her sit-down with Butch in episode 5 of “When Thank You Is Not Enough.”

In episode 4, Butch continues the conversation about peer support with Dr. Jacqueline van Wormer, director of the All Rise Center for Advancing Justice. Dr. van Wormer offers insight into the vital role peer recovery support plays in assisting justice-involved individuals with accepting, sustaining, and thriving in treatment and recovery. An expert in program implementation and sustainability, Dr. Van Wormer walks through the steps of implementing peer support and the elements critical to its success with the justice-involved population.

For more on peer recovery support, click here.

Episode 3 kicks off a two-part series on peer support, starting with how the VA is expanding peer support to ensure justice-involved veterans have access to veterans with lived experience who provide individualized assistance connecting to VA services. Butch talks with the VA’s National Peer Services Coordinator Antonio Harris, LCSW, about the difference between VA peers and veteran mentors and the way in which both roles compliment each other and offer a more robust network of support and guidance to justice-involved veterans. Stay tuned for episode 4 which will dive into community peer support.

If you are a veteran in crisis please call the Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 and press 1

Click here for more on the VA peer support.

Click here for the VA peer support toolkit.

Veterans who are homeless or at risk for homelessness often face legal issues that make it difficult for them to obtain or maintain stable housing. Thanks to the VA’s Legal Services for Veterans program, these needs are now being met in unique and effective ways. Butch sits down with the program’s national coordinator Madolyn Gingell to talk about how veterans can access legal support and the new grant program that is empowering local legal providers to assist.

If you are a veteran in crisis please call the Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 and press 1

Click here for more on the Legal Services for Veterans program.

In the first episode of season 2, Butch sits down with Katie Stewart, L.C.S.W., national coordinator of the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) Program for a deep dive into the the many ways VJOs ensure that justice-involved veterans have access to the care, services, and other benefits they’ve earned. VJOs help maximize veterans’ potential for success and stability in the community, including by helping them avoid homelessness and ending their involvement in the justice system. The discussion includes an explanation of the Veterans Re-Entry Search Service, a vital resource for identifying justice-involved veterans and linking them with care.

If you are a veteran in crisis please call the Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 and press 1

Season 1 concludes with a discussion with Montgomery County, Texas First Assistant District Attorney Mike Holley. Mike talks about his philosophy as a prosecutor and why he believes veterans treatment court and other interventions for veterans are the honorable approach to serving those who served us.

After seeing the success of Kansas’ only veterans treatment court, Kansas Chief Justice Lawton Nuss made the decision to retire early from the bench and devote his time to traveling the state and building support for more programs. In the penultimate episode of season 1, he and Butch discuss what led to this decision, his work to help jurisdictions in Kansas increase access to treatment for veterans, and why he believes these programs will continue to expand.

Todd Kramer is living proof that the justice system can play a role in facilitating treatment and recovery. His story also exemplifies the therapeutic camaraderie that exists among those who serve. Todd served in both the Air Force and the Army and deployed as a 40 year old E5. When he came home he struggled to reengage and his addiction deepened. He found recovery and his purpose in veterans treatment court. In this gripping episode, hear his remarkable story and learn how volunteer mentors like Todd are the lifeblood of veterans treatment courts today.

S1E5 profiles a true hero of the veterans treatment court movement, retired Buffalo Judge Robert Russell. In 2008, Judge Russell forever transformed the way the justice system identifies, assesses, and treats veterans with a simple act of ingenuity and compassion. Here the story of how the first veterans treatment court came to be, how it spawned a system of programs serving over 15,000 veterans each year, and why it represents the most effective intervention for justice-involved veterans with substance use and mental health disorders.

Is the VA a waste of time? Can it really provide the services and care you need? John Boerstler, Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, joins the podcast to share just how much the VA has expanded, evolved, and modernized post-9/11 to better listen to veterans and respond to meet their unique needs.

What are Vet Centers? How do they differ from VA hospitals and other VA services? S1E3 takes a deep dive into Vet Centers, looking at their origin, role, and unique approach to providing mental and behavioral health services to our nation’s veterans. This episode features Laura Felten, director of the Milwaukee Vet Center and former Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist.

S1E2 takes the conversation on trauma and post-traumatic growth to the next level and discusses mental health treatment, therapy, and trauma-informed resources to help veterans recover with James Puckett, a licensed professional counselor and professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin.

S1E1 explores the effects of trauma and post-traumatic growth on our military veterans with guest Jaymes Poling, the creator of Modern Warrior LIVE, an immersive music and narrative experience that chronicles his journey through three U.S. Army deployments in Afghanistan and subsequent transition back home.