DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A specialized veterans treatment court in Dearborn is helping justice-involved veterans address underlying issues like PTSD and substance abuse instead of sending them through traditional criminal proceedings.
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Eighty-eight percent of Veterans who entered the Dearborn Veterans Treatment Court graduated very few committing offenses once they left, according to the court's stats.
For Kevin Belisle, a former Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant known as "Gunny," admitting he needed help was the hardest part.
"That was the hardest thing, is like admitting that," Belisle said.
Belisle had been silently battling using alcohol to cope after his military service.
"With me coming out of the Marine Corps, I think ... it was one of the things that I kind of migrated to as a coping mechanism," Belisle said.
It wasn't until his second DUI citation that Belisle decided to apply to the Dearborn Veterans Treatment Court.
"A lot of times what happens is we have no fear, and then you start getting some alcohol in you and it's like no fear on steroids, and you get the ego and you know I can drive and all that stuff and got pulled over and ... I got a DUI so ... I told myself that I'm gonna make a right out of a wrong and I got through the program," Belisle said.
The pride that comes with being a Marine was one of the biggest hurdles for Belisle to overcome. It's the kind of emotional challenge that Veteran-Chief Judge and former Marine Eugene Hunt understood when he started the program.
"They're pretty significant, you know, there are alcohol and drug problems that get picked up when they're in the service and they're overseas, there's post traumatic stress which is, I mean there are a lot of different things that people come out, once they go into the military, they come back different," Hunt said.
The 12- to 18-month program addresses underlying issues like PTSD and mental health challenges that have contributed to legal trouble. It's one of 27 veteran treatment courts in Michigan.
Since 2019, Hunt has had 45 graduates complete the program.
"We're trying to get more of them in here," Hunt said.
According to nonprofit All Rise, 181,000 veterans are incarcerated in U.S. jails or prisons. Additionally, one in five veterans has symptoms of a mental health disorder or cognitive impairment.
For Belisle, the court has been a place where he felt like much more than just a file.
"With the veterans treatment court, you are more," Belisle said.
The program has transformed his life and his relationship with alcohol.
"It taught me how to cope without having to have any kind of alcohol, and I haven't drank in 19 months and just being around veterans, you know, and, and the fact that they want to help you and be uh be there for you," Belisle said.
"It really opened my eyes ... and taught me how to cope better than just drinking a few beers and, and, uh, you know, using that as a coping mechanism. Now there's so many tools that they've gave me that, you know, I'll never drink again because it just ain't worth it," Belisle said.
Belisle graduated from the program in January, marking his exit from the system. Now, he only returns as a mentor to others going through the same journey.
"It's just, basically, I've been through the program. You'll get through it," Belisle said.
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