BEND, OR -- The Deschute County District Attorney hopes to recruit more veteran mentors at an event later this week, to help with the Veterans Court. D.A. Steve Gunnels says vets face unique challenges, especially when they end up involved in the criminal justice system, "The participants in the program are obviously veterans, who are coming up against hard times. They, in this case, have been charged with committing crimes that are in some way related to their service in the military." He tells KBND News, "PTSD and traumatic brain injury, things like that, sometimes are contributing factors to people getting involved in the criminal justice system, typically from using drugs and alcohol, which leads to other crimes down the road."

Gunnels says, "The veteran mentors who assist the participants in the program are people who have worked with the Veterans Administration, for example, over the years and learned how to maneuver through that system to obtain services. And they can help other veterans - veterans who are struggling." Those services can include critical primary and mental health care. "The danger, for people who are struggling and encounter a bureaucracy they can’t seem to navigate," says Gunnels, "Is that they’ll just give up and then go deeper into drug use and alcohol use and crime."

Thursday afternoon, the D.A.'s office hosts an informational drop-in for anyone interested in becoming a mentor for the Veterans Intervention Strategy. That open meeting is from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the downtown Bend Library.