There a buzz in the crowd, and excitement. It's graduation day and more than 100 people are on hand at the Santa Barbara Veterans' Memorial Building.
These graduates aren’t getting diplomas or degrees. They’re getting something even better. It's their freedom.
They are graduates of Santa Barbara County’s Veterans Treatment Court. It’s a program where veterans with mental health or substance abuse issues can get treatment instead of jail time for misdemeanor, and some nonviolent felony charges.
U.S. Navy veteran Mark Legg is one of the six graduates in this round of the program, and says it's giving him a fresh start.
Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Michael Carrozzo says what these veterans need is not jail time but treatment, in the form of a program to get their lives back on track.
Tracy Gunderson, with the New Beginnings Counseling Center, says veterans in the program are facing issues like PTSD and substance abuse.
Deputy Public Defender Megan Behrens says the justice system has embraced the effort. She says instead of perpetuating the problem by locking someone away for a few weeks or months, the new process gets them treatment they need. The program in Southern Santa Barbara County was the idea of now-retired Superior Court Judge George Eskin.
He looked at a program in the Northern part of the county, as well as efforts elsewhere, to launch the effort in Santa Barbara.
That was in 2012: since then there have been more than four dozen graduates. Democratic State Senator Hanna Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara, who is also Eskin’s wife, has not only supported the effort but also created legislation to help back efforts to help veterans statewide.
That doesn't mean the program will work for everyone. Only about half of the people who try the year-long treatment program make it through it. If they drop out, they then face their deferred criminal charges. But those involved say even if it just got one person’s life back on track, that’s a big deal. Today, though, the focus is on saluting the programs latest half dozen graduates.
Navy Veteran Mark Legg steps up on the stage of the auditorium to receive a graduation certificate from the judge, and admits he's a little overwhelmed, and grateful for the help.
