In honor of Veteran’s Day and its employees who are U.S. military veterans, HeplerBroom recently donated to the Madison County Veterans’ Court. The Court, founded in 2009 by The Honorable Charles Romani, was created to: (1) ensure that justice-involved veterans are connected to the benefits and treatment they earned through their military service, and (2) divert them from the traditional criminal justice system. Using a non-adversarial approach, the Veterans Administration, State’s Attorney’s office, defense counsel, Madison County Problem-Solving Court, and other community partners work together to give each veteran the best possible chance of getting back on track as a healthy, productive citizen. Among other things, the program includes substance abuse and mental health assessments as well as help obtaining any service-connected disability benefits. The program also includes a peer mentoring program.
HeplerBroom employees honored include:
- Larry Hepler – U.S. Army, 1968-1970 (Captain, 1st Infantry Brigade, 5th Mechanized Infantry Division, Republic of Vietnam, 1969-1970)
- Sheldon L. Johnson – U.S. Army, 1977-1979 (Private, Infantry Division)
- Stephen R. Kaufmann – Illinois National Guard, 1971-1977 (Spec. 4, Artillery, Military Police)
- Paul R. Lewis – U.S. Air Force, 1989-1999 (E-4, Aerospace Medicine Division)
(L-R) Delani Hemmer (Public Defender), Michael Malone (Probation Officer), Rob Suess (Probation Officer), Honorable Charles Romani (Ret.), HeplerBroom partner Troy Bozarth, Honorable Sarah Smith (Lieutenant Colonel and Military Judge, Illinois Army National Guard Reserves, and presiding Judge, Veterans’ Court), and Mike Wilkenson (Deputy Chief of Problem-Solving Courts & Pretrial Services).
Original source can be found here.