Veterans Health Administration Deflection Programming: A Qualitative Study of Providers and Police Officers

EN | Abstract: Objective: Deflection program staff intervene with a person before or during a crisis or a community encounter to connect them with needed healthcare or psychosocial services and prevent their arrest or further interaction with the criminal legal system. As deflection programs develop and expand, there are opportunities to connect veterans in crisis or with other service needs to healthcare. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) supported and trained staff to create and expand deflection partnerships to serve veterans who are at risk for adverse legal or clinical outcomes. This study examined VHA professionals’ experiences with and recommendations for deflection partnerships. Methods: Virtual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 VHA staff from May to June 2024. The primary focus of the interviews was to examine key partners, community-based resources, barriers to successful deflection partnerships, data tracking, and future quality improvement. Transcripts were coded using a priori and emergent codes and analyzed using the framework method. Results: Most participants were female (56%), white (87%), with a master’s degree (94%), and 10 or more years of employment within VHA (69%). Four themes were identified: (1) deflection partnership characteristics, (2) need for Peer Specialists, (3) VHA and community-based resources and barriers, and (4) data tracking. Conclusion: Results indicated that VHA staff are highly collaborative, but VHA and community resource gaps, few Peer Specialists dedicated to legal-involved services for veterans, and a lack of data tracking limited successful deflection partnerships. Recommendations to ensure program continuity and expansion include providing more resources and training, hiring Peer Specialists dedicated to legal-involved veterans services and improving data collection and monitoring to facilitate effective deflection partnerships for veterans. Key Words: Veterans, Criminal Justice, Healthcare, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, SDG 1, SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 10, SDG 16, SDG.