Douglas County Adult Drug Court Enhancement

This project seeks to enhance the current operations of the Douglas County Adult Drug Court (DCADC) by ensuring the Court is in compliance with the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards (National Standards), specifically standard number 8, “Multidisciplinary Team”.  To achieve this goal, the DCADC is requesting Category 3 funding in the amount of $170,708 to implement a professional development protocol that includes sending various team members to the national conference each year until all have attended.  Additionally, the Court will contract with a certified law enforcement officer to serve on the Drug Court team as a permanent member. 

The DCADC is a post plea format offering open Drug Court twice weekly shared between four sitting District Court Judges.  The target population is non-violent, high risk, high need Douglas County residents over 18 years of age with criminal cases which are substantially related to their addiction to drugs and/or alcohol.  Individuals served by Douglas County’s Drug Court must be willing to engage within a highly structured/supervised program consisting of 3 phases over an estimated 12 to 18-month time frame (durations vary). The structure includes substance abuse/mental health service levels; ancillary/wrap-around services that are perceived to benefit the program member; frequent court hearings; random urine testing; case management; as well as attendance at designated inside/outside support groups/treatment groups and meetings.

The current capacity of the DCADC is 150 participants.  At this time the program has 129 clients.  Data over the last six years indicates the average number of referrals to the Drug Court each year is 134 with an average acceptance of 85.  The DCADC anticipates serving 340-500 clients during the project period. 

 
The DCADC received FY2009 Drug Court Discretionary Grant funds.  Award #: 2009-DC-BX-0112.