Piloting a Mental Health Docket Incorporating a Drug Court Model to Improve Outcomes for Adults with Co-Occurring Disorders

The Cuyahoga County “Piloting a Mental Health Docket Incorporating a Drug Court Model to Improve Outcomes for Adults with Co-Occurring Disorders” application is a Category 1 Adult Drug Court (ADC) funding request. It serves urban and suburban areas of Cuyahoga County, Ohio and is located centrally within a 2.7-million-person Major Metropolitan Service Area known as Greater Cleveland/Akron.

The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court (Court) manages an ADC Program of four dockets to address the area's drug crisis.  It also operates a Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MHDD) Program, whereby 100% of its participants exhibit a co-occurring diagnosis (COD) for both mental health and substance use disorders (SUD).  For the first time in its history, one of the Court's five MHDD dockets will pilot an evidence-based ADC model to reduce recidivism among High-Risk/High-Need individuals suffering from a serious and persistent mental illness with psychosis while exhibiting SUDs.  Called the Mental Health-Adult Drug Court Docket Pilot Program (MH-ADC Docket), its primary outcome is to show the use of NADCP's Adult Drug Court Practice Standards increases the positive termination and recidivism rate of its participants exhibiting CODs. Case Western Reserve University (evaluator) will determine the achievement of this purpose.

The MH-ADC Docket will pilot a post-adjudication ADC model serving 40-50 unduplicated clients each year (160-200 clients overall) over a 12-24 month period. The adult population will likely be 72% Black, 3% Hispanic and 23% White, 84% male, and 16% female, with an average age of 37 years. With the support of a $700,000 planning and implementation grant from BJA, primary activities include screening and risk assessments, a continuum of treatment and case management provided by two of the top providers in the Greater Cleveland area specializing in CODs, use of MAT, sober housing, peer supporters, regular advisory team meetings, and ongoing training. The Court is leveraging other federal funding for its efforts from two BJA Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Programs [Award 2019-MU-BX-0003 (administrative oversight) and 15PBJA-21-GG-04187-MUMU (peer support services)]. 

The MH-ADC Docket will adhere to the following NADCP's Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards: Std. 1 (pg 6); Std. 2 (pg 7); Std. 3 (pg 8); Std. 4 (pg 8); Std. 5 (pg 9); Std. 6 (pg 10); Std. 7 (pg 11); Std. 8 (pg 11), Std. 9 (pg 12); Std. 10 (pg 12).

The Court is seeking 1(A) Priority Consideration, and responses are on the following pages: 4, 7, 11, 16, and 18.  

The MH-ADC Docket is located at the Court's Justice Center, 1200 Ontario Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Mr. Philip Florian is its MH-ADC Docket Coordinator (216-698-3145 + [email protected]). The Honorable Judge Brendan Sheehan, the administrative and presiding judge of the Court, serves as the interim contact for the new MH-ADC Docket and will appoint its Judge immediately upon an award (2164438685 + [email protected]).