Juvenile Drug Court

Welcome to Juvenile Drug Court

Mission Statement

It is the mission of the Juvenile Drug Court Program to improve public safety and reduce the number of repeat offenses among those youth who participate in our program.

This is accomplished by providing intensive supervision and comprehensive rehabilitation by strengthening their families, emphasizing a focus on education, providing immediate incentives and consequences for their behavior, and introducing them to positive, and alternative community resources.

Program Goals

Early Identification of any juvenile with a substance abuse problem and address/treat immediately.

Promotion of public safety by way of intensive monitoring by court-employed Surveillance Officers, while protecting participant’s legal due process rights.

Tools to teach juveniles responsibility and accountability for their acts and words by building and developing principal-centered, choice-making.

Improvement of a juvenile’s school performance and attendance.

Support for the entire family and to identify the social and economic needs, thereby strengthening the family as a whole, accomplished by integrating them with the appropriate case management services.

Reduction in Recidivism. The connection between drug addiction and crime has been well-documented. The cycle of drug/alcohol use and criminality cannot generally be broken under the traditional criminal justice system, where those arrested either remain unexposed to treatment or receive little supervision or monitoring for compliance while in treatment.

Comprehensive, Court-Centered Treatment by offering a variety of group and individual counseling components, culturally competent services, and are based on a case-by-case basis.

Secondary Goals:

Reduce parents’ substance abuse.
Address the entire family’s social and economic needs by identifying the needs and strengths of the juvenile and parents, and meeting them with the appropriate services.

Program Objectives

Objective 1. Focus the philosophy and practice on effectively addressing substance use and criminogenic needs to decrease future offending and substance use and to increase positive outcomes.
Objective 2. Ensure equitable treatment for all youth by adhering to eligibility criteria and conducting an initial screening.
Objective 3. Provide a process that engages the full team and follows procedures fairly.
Objective 4. Conduct comprehensive needs assessments that inform individualized case management.
Objective 5. Implement contingency management, case management, and community supervision strategies effectively.
Objective 6. Refer participants to evidence-based substance use treatment, to other services, and for prosocial connections.
Objective 7. Monitor and track program completion and termination.