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The Veterans Diversion Program — a Route Out Before the Court Route

Created by P.L. 2017, c. 042, the Veterans Diversion Program lets a servicemember who is a veteran and alleged to have committed an eligible offence be assisted, with a volunteer mentor, in resolving the problems that led to the involvement with the criminal justice system.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Created by P.L. 2017, c. 042, the Veterans Diversion Program lets a servicemember who is a veteran and alleged to have committed an eligible offence be assisted, with a volunteer mentor, in resolving the problems that led to the involvement with the criminal justice system.

What it's worth: Diversion with a volunteer veteran mentor, for an eligible offence

  • The department publishes no outcome as a rule — what diversion means for the charge is decided in the case, and we do not put a promise on it.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran.
  • Your home is in New Jersey.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: As early as possible — this operates before and around the ordinary process
  1. 1Raise it immediately with your defence attorney. This is a diversion route worked with the prosecutor and law enforcement, not a docket you can join later.
  2. 2Ask for the eligibility determination in terms. The department words the programme as assisting an eligible servicemember who is a veteran and who has been alleged to have committed an eligible offence — both "eligible" tests are decided by others, not by you.
  3. 3Ask to be matched with a mentor. The department maintains a mentor database shared with the Attorney General’s Office and the law enforcement community, and states that a mentor is one of the most important tools a participant has.
  4. 4Bring a state veterans service officer into it. The department states its service officers help with claims work, VA health-care referrals, education assistance, property tax deductions and exemptions, civil service veterans preference, homeless veterans resources and state health-care services — most of which are what the underlying problems actually need.
  5. 5Use the department’s own service office listing to find the nearest one rather than searching. It publishes an address and phone number for each.
  6. 6If you want to help rather than to be helped, the mentor guidelines and mentor application are published on the same page, and the department is actively recruiting.
File with
Your defence attorney and the prosecutor, with support from a state veterans service officer
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is not a veterans treatment court. It is a diversion programme run with the Attorney General’s Office and law enforcement, which is why the department’s own page is written to recruit mentors rather than to take applications from defendants.
Worth knowingThe mentor is the operative part. The department describes the volunteer mentor’s role as assisting the servicemember in accessing help to resolve the underlying problems that led to or contributed to the involvement with the criminal justice system.
Known gapThe department publishes the mentor guidelines and the statute’s public-law number, but not the list of eligible offences, the eligibility test for the servicemember, the length of the programme or what completion earns. Ask the defence attorney and the county prosecutor, and note that we did not read the statute itself this session.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.