Veterans Praise Court Program That Helps Them Get Back On Their Feet After Misdemeanor Charges

By Nicole Pilsbury, Maryland Matters

November 13, 2025

Joe Belvedere has seen many people go through the Veteran Treatment Court, a voluntary program designed to help vets charged with misdemeanors to get back on their feet. But the story of one veteran from a few years back sticks out.

He came to the program facing substance abuse issues, homelessness, unemployment and had no ties with his family — he had “burned a lot of bridges,” in the words of Belvedere, the case manager and veteran mentor coordinator for the District Court in Anne Arundel County. But he graduated from the program and is now thriving as a master electrician who has been reunited with his family.
“He’s just one of so many who have come through the program,” said Belvedere, noting that the “overwhelming majority” of veterans in the program have faced similar challenges.

District Court Senior Judge Halee F. Weinstein, Veterans Treatment Court graduate James Briggs, his mentor, and Heather, one of the Warrior Canine Connection service dogs that vets in the program help train. (Photo by Nicole Pilsbury/Maryland Matters)

There have been 135 veterans who have graduated from the Central Maryland Regional Veterans Treatment Court since its inception in 2015, including five who graduated Wednesday during the treatment court’s 10th anniversary celebration in Baltimore. The program typically takes 18 months to complete. Over the 10 years the program has been in place, there have been 24 unsuccessful graduations.

“Anybody who works in the criminal justice system knows that those kinds of numbers are astounding,” said District Court Senior Judge Halee F. Weinstein, the founder of the program and a veteran herself. “But they are not just numbers — they are people.”

The court originally only served veterans from Baltimore City, and now has been open to veterans from Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties for about a year. The central Maryland program has 44 active participants — about twice as many as last year, when it expanded to a regional court.

“That is double the amount of veterans who have had the ability to rebuild their lives,” said Belvedere, who will soon assume his role as a veteran mentor coordinator for both the District Court in Anne Arundel and the Central Maryland Regional Veterans Treatment Court.

Belvedere hopes that the decision to expand will be an example for other court programs, emphasizing that this is “just the beginning.” He noted the “ripple effects” the program has in the community, such as multigenerational impacts and the ways in which veterans who have completed the program give back to the community — some becoming veteran mentors themselves or finding other ways to use their experience to help others.

Veteran treatment programs are offered in 13 counties across the state through the District Court in Anne Arundel County, the Central Maryland Regional Veterans Treatment Court, the Dorchester County District Regional Veterans Court, the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County and the Frederick and Washington County Regional Veterans Treatment Court.

“I’d like to thank the judge for offering grace — if that’s what it is — to veterans who need the time to reflect on their lives,” said retired Army Col. Edna W. Cummings, who spoke at the ceremony.

Retired Army Col. Edna Cummings spoke at the Central Maryland Regional Veterans Treatment Court’s 10th anniversary. (Photo by Nicole Pilsbury/Maryland Matters)

Cummings encouraged veterans to write down stories from their service, pushing each of them to reflect on the significance of the role they played in leading a unit or organization to its success.
“I like to think that the military sent each of us to a superpower training camp — it’s designed to bring out our strengths we didn’t know we had,” she said. “Once you document your story, you too will realize your superpowers.”

Program graduates on Wednesday each approached the front of the room to share words with Weinstein, with whom the veterans had regular status hearings during their time in the program. Each veteran shared a moment, complete with both laughs and emotional sentiments, with their mentor and Weinstein before taking a photo in front of the flag that represented their respective service.

“I get to look at not the person who I was, but the person I became as a result of using drugs and getting into all that negative stuff. Now I get to be the person I truly am — who I was raised to be,” said Kevin Johnson, a veteran who graduated Wednesday. “It’s just a really good feeling to be able to feel this way.”