HUNTSVILLE Veteran events
At the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s Office which is of Diversity and multicultural affairs, University of Alabama school of cultural work, and U.S. Department of Veterans events will bestow a conference Feb. 9 to present Veterans Treatment Courts and their positive impact on making communities protected and assisting veterans to reintegrate into society.
Veterans Treatment Courts
“None of our Veteran Left Behind” will be a daylong gathering in the Charger Union Theater on the UAH campus. The discussion will examine the composition and work that Veterans Treatment Courts grant to participating veterans, and the mechanisms needed to ensure success for those veterans. The conference also will discuss the behavioral well-being of veterans, they after having extended deployments or recovery from grave injuries have difficulties reconciling to nonmilitary life.
“The VTC is something all judicial course should possess,” Town said. “It gives our veterans not only a holistic method to get their spirit but vests them with the fact that they never missed it.
The conference will involve morning and afternoon keynote addresses, followed by panel conversations. Buffalo, N.Y., Judge Robert Russell, who believes in starting the first Veterans Treatment Court in the country, will provide the day keynote address.
Judge Russell began presiding over the Veterans Treatment Court in Buffalo in January 2008. Before that, he created Buffalo’s Drug Treatment Court in December 1995 and continued to assist as its presiding judge. In December 2002, Judge Russell set and began presiding over Buffalo’s Mental Health Court. Judge Russell is the former chairman of the National Association of Drug Court Board of Directors and the prior president of the New York State Association of Drug Court Professionals. He also works on the National Advisory Board of the Judges’ Felonious Justice/Mental Health initiative.
Dr. Eric Seemann is a counseling psychologist, U.S. Navy veteran and a part of the Alabama Army National Guard. He will give the afternoon keynote address. Seemann who is the Veterans’ Services Organizer for UAH. His research and education interests cover post-traumatic stress and healing, chronic pain and flexibility, psychometrics, character, social living, and coping. Seemann’s fields of specialization as a licensed psychologist include forensic psychology, assessment, military psychology, crisis intervention, risk assessment, pain psychology, and vulnerable populations.
Lt. Gen. Jim Pillsbury will also be a guest speaker during the afternoon. Pillsbury had 38 years of service experience and withdrew as commander of Redstone Arsenal and Missile Command. Pillsbury was appointed as a second lieutenant in 1973, after finishing college, and matured an infantry officer. He would go on to enhance a pilot, holding several situations in the Army. He retired in 2011.
Panels throughout the conference will address questions including the position of judges in Veterans Treatment Courts, and the role instructors play in ensuring the resolution of court participants.
Panelists will cover
Ruth Ann Hall – Madison County Circuit Court Judge
Cumberland School of Law Professor
John Carroll – U.S. Magistrate Judge
Beverly Gebhardt – Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs General Counsel
Emily Carroll – Madison County Assistant District Attorney
Ahmad Brewer- VA’s Veterans Justice Outreach Coordinator
Ray Zimmerman – Madison County Veterans Treatment Court mentor.
The conversation is free and accessible to the public, but reservations are limited. Please click on the subsequent link to register: https://usaoalntraining.org/VeteransTreatmentCourtsConference (link is external), or contact Phillip.howard@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail). Law approves Six APOST terms for law enforcement officers and Continuing Education Units of 5.8 hours for attorneys. CEUs for social workers are pending.