Fairbanks Veterans Court Enhancement

The Fairbanks Wellness Court (FWC) Enhancement project (Category 2) seeks to expand treatment, community supervision, case management, UA testing, recovery support and other services to a greater number of addicted and Veteran offenders than are currently served in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.  The project is expected to admit a total of 25 new participants by the end of Year 4 of the grant, which should benefit the community of Fairbanks, the criminal justice system and reduce incarceration costs for the state.  This project is not seeking priority consideration as the North Star Borough is not deemed a historically underserved community. FWC is a post-plea, pre-sentence treatment court which accepts DUI, drug and Veteran offenders with or without co-occurring disorders.  Veteran offenders appear on the same docket as DUI and drug offenders, as the majority of those seen by the court have not seen active duty.  To date, the court has never had more than one veteran participant at a time.  Total federal amount requested: $746,519.45All participants must remain in the program at least 18 months with the average length of participation being 19 months. Participants are expected to graduate within 2 years of admission.Target population is adults 18 or over living in the Fairbanks North Star Borough who have criminal charges related to addiction or who are Veteran offenders eligible for VA benefits, and who are assessed as moderate to high risk/high need.  There are several providers in the area who offer MAT services to FWC participants. The Matrix treatment model used by the FWC treatment provider is recognized as an evidence-based treatment model for alcohol, opioid, stimulant and other substance use disorders.  Participants are regularly and randomly UA tested and receive intensive community supervision and case management from their Probation Officer.  New participants are assisted with housing, food and transportation needs as needed so they can focus on treatment participation while in the program.The project will address Best Practice Standards as noted throughout the narrative and specifically on pages 6-9 (BPS I, II, V, IX), 10-12 (VII, III, V), 13-14 (VI, V), 15-17 (VIII), 18-19 (X).The active BJA grant for the Statewide Training and Evaluation Plan (2020-DC-BX-0116) provides training for therapeutic court administrative personnel.