Sheboygan County Adult Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court Enhancement Grant

In 2020, the State of Wisconsin had 1,227 death due to opioid overdose and 38 of those deaths occurred in Sheboygan County. Additionally, in 2020 Wisconsin’s monthly average for emergency room visits due to opioid overdoses was 145 visits and in Sheboygan County, there were 59 emergency room visits related to opioid use throughout the year. Sheboygan also ranked 11th in the state for chronic alcohol inpatient visits. The opioid epidemic in Wisconsin demands we increase capacity and improve the efficacy in treating substance use disorders. Sheboygan County Drug & Alcohol Treatment Court Program was designed to combat the devastating impacts related to addiction. The Sheboygan County Drug & Alcohol Treatment Court is a post-adjudicated program that became operational in July of 2016 and serves all of Sheboygan County, an urbanized area. Our program length is a minimum of eighteen months and does not have a maximum length of time. Recognizing that incarceration does not treat addiction, our program provides intensive treatment, community supervision and monitoring, and judicial oversight of participants as they move from using substances and engaging in criminal activity to law-abiding, sober, and productive members of our community. Enhancements to our current program would support our program reaching its current program capacity of 25 participants.  Although our program has the goal of this capacity, we have not had the tools to support this.  Enhancements would include but are not limited to a case management software, staff time to provide outreach, the costs of randomized urine drug screens, and incorporating a different screening tool for OWI offenders. Enhancements would also include increasing the array of evidenced based treatment and complementary services to include Living in Balance curriculum to successfully support long term recovery. Last enhancement funds would support training to our multidisciplinary team, including our new Judge and District Attorney with the goal of improving program efficacy. The areas of our Program targeted for enhancements are consistent with the 10 Key Components of Drug Courts and the Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards, both endorsed by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). Our program is currently supported through a BJA Enhancement grant in addition to funding received from the Treatment Alternatives and Diversion State Grant. Our program is not seeking priority consideration.  Our program is a post-adjudication program. Our program is an Adult Drug Court program and is not in combination with a VTC docket.