Madera County Adult Drug Court Enhancement Project

This application is for a project under Category 3: Adult Drug Court to enhance Madera County’s non-operational post-plea Felony Drug Court (FDC) program into an operational pre-plea diversion model. The program will be overseen by a Diversion Drug Court Team, which includes representatives from the Madera County Probation Department, Behavioral Health Services Department (BHS), the District Attorney’s Office (DA), as well as the Superior Court.

The proposed Diversion Drug Court will be open to eligible offenders charged with misdemeanor and felony drug-related offenses and expects to service between 100-150 individuals. In 2019-2020, 1,146 of the 6,838 arrests in Madera County were for drug-related charges. The treatment program will occur over a 9 to 12-month period and provide a variety addiction treatment, counseling, educational, and workforce development programs, including use of a CBT curriculum and referrals to contracted MAT and NTP service providers for participants requiring opioid addiction treatment. Successful completion of the drug court will entitle a defendant to a dismissal of the related drug charge(s) and/or avoidance of prison time under California PC 1001.95. As discussed on pages 11-12 in the application narratives, the Diversion Drug Court program addresses several NADCP Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards, including I. Target Population, II. Equity and Inclusion, V. Substance Use Disorder Treatment: VI. Complementary Treatment and Social Services, and VIII. Multidisciplinary Team.
This is the first time Madera County has applied to this solicitation and the county has not received any prior federal drug court grants from OJP. The County’s previous FDC program, funded through state realignment funds, has been non-operational for several years due to a variety of factors related to changes in California criminal justice legislation, lack of funding, and internal organizational issues. This application requests $500,000 in federal funds, principally to fund hiring of a specialized Deputy Probation Officer to work as the main point of contact for the Diversion Drug Court team, improving communication/coordination between involved agencies, supporting goals and objectives of the proposed project, while providing intensive supervision of the participant, including needs assessment and case plan development. No other federal funding sources are being leveraged, although the County is providing in-kind matching funds totaling $381,596 drawn from existing staff time for a behavioral health counselor, probation supervisor, and other county staff participating in the Diversion Drug Court program.