Final Report - Project Nova: A Pilot Study to Support Veterans in the Criminal Justice System

Abstract: Project Nova was implemented to consider and address the needs of veteran offenders following a referral after arrest by the Police. The pilot, delivered in Norfolk and Suffolk, lasted for 12 months from July 2014 to July 2015. Over this 12-month period, 145 veterans were referred to the project. However, over half of this number were not traceable because of insufficient contact details. 34 veteran offenders fully engaged with the pilot project during the evaluation period. The data from these participants was collected by the Project Nova operational team, anonymised and shared with Anglia Ruskin University for further consideration and analysis. Validated questionnaires were circulated to the participants at baseline, measuring social adjustment, well-being, alcohol misuse and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Initial findings indicated difficulties with all the issues measured for many of the veterans. Just under a third of these participants (n=10) took part in semi-structured interviews. These interviews required ethical approval which was sought prior to conducting interviews with participants from the Project Nova team, a Police Officer from the Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary, and the 10 offenders. The interviews were conducted by the same researcher to ensure continuity.