'Become That Soldier Again': Treatment Court Helps Troubled Veterans Avoid Pitfalls

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - Navy veteran Kevin Slack knew he needed help.

"My life was pretty much a train wreck," Slack said, "from the moment I got home from the Navy."

He is part of Arapahoe County's first graduating class for veterans' treatment court, which determines whether veterans commit crimes because of unresolved issues from their time of service. The program includes drug and alcohol monitoring along with treatment for mental issues.

On Friday, five veterans completed a two-year program many are calling a "problem-solving" court.

Rodney Mills, a program graduate and an Army veteran, says it gave him back his honor.

"Things started to materialize in my life, things from my military career, things that I understood: the honor, the valor, the dedication and the commitments. And I started to become that soldier again," Mills said.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, says the vets' lives somehow got off track when they returned home.

"They served their country and they brought back something less then they went in with -- whether that's PTSD or some other type of traumatic brain injury. And that loss has caused them to make a mistake," he said.

Mills said the program provided support he needed.

"I'd be able to restructure my life and pretty much pick up where I'd left off getting out of the Navy. And today that's exactly what happened," Mills said.