What is a Veteran Mentor?
• Acts as a resource to the Veteran client
• Helps Veteran clients and their families
with transportation and other financial
issues
• Served or is serving in the U.S. Military
• Is not a counselor
Mentor Program Mission
To ensure that every participating Veteran receives the
services they require by helping them navigate the
system and to act as a mentor, advocate, and ally.
Program Goals
1. Help our fellow Veterans receive the
services they need to reach their full
potential as productive members of society.
2. Help them navigate the court system,
treatment system, and the VA system.
3. Assess their needs and help them adjust
back to civilian life.
Mentors’ Duties & Responsibilities
• Attend Court scheduled sessions
• Participate in and lead mentoring sessions when
assigned by the judge
• Be supportive and understanding of the
difficulties the Veteran clients are facing
• Assist the Veteran clients as much as possible to
resolve their concerns
around the court
procedures
Mentors’ Duties & Responsibilities
• Assist the Veteran clients on how to access and
navigate the Veteran’s Affairs System
• Be supportive and helpful to other Veteran
Mentors
• Communicate and stay close to the court
coordinator and judge
The Mentor Coordinator
• Essential to maintaining the success of the
Veteran Mentor Program
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Recruit volunteer Veteran mentors
Assist in their retention
Organize and conduct their training
Supervise
Perform duties as assigned by Project Director
and Judge
– Sustain and evolve the Veteran Mentor
Program
• Who should this be? How you find this
person?
Matching Policy
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Branch of service
Occupational specialty
Combat experience
Similar age/gender/ethnicity
Specific skill of a Mentor matched to the
need of a Mentee
• Previous sessions where the Mentor and
Mentee were matched
Finding, Screening, & Retaining
• Who you look for
• Knowledge & Experience (Accredited Service
Officers), Branch of Service, Combat
Experience, Age, Gender, Active
duty/Reserve/National Guard
• Screening
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Criminal history
Temperament
Untreated Combat Mental Illness
Commitment to program
• Retaining
Collaborating with Veteran Agencies
• US Department of Veteran Affairs
• Veteran Health Care Network
• Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
• Vietnam Veterans of America
• Veterans of Foreign Wars
• Local Vet Centers
Mentor process: Keep it simple
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All Mentors are Veteran advocates
You are a resource for the Vet
Help Vet and family navigate systems
Make sure VA Healthcare and any claims
in place
• 75% of time, you are just a friend
• Training is in how to navigate systems, not
in “counseling”
The Mentoring Interview
• 50% is just bonding
• Document your interview in Mentor Log for
other Mentors to use in future interviews
• Use your Resource Book or other Mentors
to help vet if problems arise
• Problems associated with Court or
counseling are referred to Court/VA
personnel
Log and Resource Book
• Basic history on Veteran
• On-going notes for each interview
• Resource page listing agencies most helpful
to Veterans and contact people to call for
help
• One page contains individual history of Vet
• Each interview ID documented
Resource Entries Important
• Develop resources as you go along
• Names, phone numbers, and specialties of
all Mentors
• Community Partner Contacts (Social
Services, Veterans Service Organizations,
etc.)
• Legal Services Referral List
• Jobs for Vets
• Etc., Etc., Etc.
• Simple 2 pages develop as you go along
Mentor Do’s and Don’ts
Is it appropriate or inappropriate for a Mentor
to:
• Looking at a participant’s file
• Act as a counselor
• Escort participant to VA or other appointment
• Eat lunch with participant
Mentor Professions
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Police
• Vet Center
School Teachers • Reserves and
National Guard
Social Workers
• Veteran Service
Lawyers
organizations
Businessmen
(e.g., Vietnam
Labor
Veterans of
Students
America,
AMVETS,
Religious
Disabled
Veteran Spouses American Vets,
etc. )
Buffalo’s First Graduate to become a Mentor
501c3 “Not for Profit” status
Donations come from many sources
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Donations are used to help Veterans
Transportation bus passes
Rent/mortgage payments
Furniture
Small appliances
Travel
Start Small
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Find coordinator and train
Only need 1 or 2 more mentors
Slowly build Resource Book – Use it!
Keep Logbook
Be careful on Mental Health cases
Court admonishes, Mentors motivate
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mentor Coordinator
Buffalo Veterans Treatment Court
Jack O’Connor
716-858-7345
OCONNORJ@ERIE.GOV
Leave No Veteran Behind
This project was supported by Grant No. 2009-DD-BX-K003
awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau
of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of
Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and
the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions
in this document are those of the author and do not
represent the official position or policies of the United
States Department of Justice.