Pinellas County Adult Treatment Court - Aurora Expansion Project

The Pinellas County Government (PCG), in partnership with the Sixth Judicial Circuit (SJC), is requesting federal funding in the amount of $778,932 for the Aurora Expansion Project (AEP). The Pinellas County Adult Drug Court (PADC), based out of Clearwater, Florida, accepts both pre- and post-adjudicated defendants and has been operating since January 2001. The target population for AEP is adult clients who identified trauma at drug court admission. This population has experienced lower success rates than general drug court population. The project proposes to serve 135 clients over course of the grant. The PADC is a 12-to-24-month program, with average length of participation for graduates being 447 days. PADC deems MAT an important part of individualized treatment plans, does not deny treatment to any eligible participant, and leverages funding from the State of Florida for cost of Naltrexone for participants under the care and prescription of a physician. Plan to Provide Treatment: AEP aims to address trauma experience by PACD participants in danger of failing drug court due to underlying trauma. AEP will use evidence-based practices in a gender-specific, trauma-informed, step-down therapeutic treatment setting. Accelerated resolution therapy specifically designed to address trauma and PTSD will be combined with rational emotive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing to create a holistic therapeutic program. AEP would use both a trauma and criminological risk tools to assign PADC participants with a moderate to high risk of continued self-defeating behaviors. AEP create an individualized treatment plan tailored to address their specific needs. Average length of treatment will be 6 months, utilizing combination of group, one-on-one, and family therapies. Participants are required to make frequent court appearances. The AEP will address the NADCP Best Practice Standard 6 (Complementary Treatment and Social Services).