Anoka County Drug Court Enhancement

The Anoka County Drug Court (ACDC) is requesting Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program funds in the amount of $394,712 to enhance our adult drug court program. Enhancements will correct limitations in our current program and make progress toward future sustainability. ACDC is a post-adjudication court serving high risk/high need felony offenders. ACDC began in November 2016, and holds weekly calendars.
The ACDC will provide treatment and services to address opioid abuse reduction, including acceptance of only high risk/high need participants with a serious chemical dependency, while providing the appropriate level of treatment and services to support their recovery. Anoka County has higher-than-average rates of property crimes, identified through arrest rates and criminal case filings. The ACDC target population is chemically dependent felony offenders, with a history of repeated criminal activity linked to their drug use. By eliminating violent offenders and low risk and low need individuals, the program will focus on repeat offenders who have been unsuccessful with sobriety.

The objective is to expand drug testing services to include weekend and holiday testing, enabling daily testing year around; evaluate the equity and inclusion of participants, and incorporate the NADCP Equity and Inclusion tool into current data collection practices; have a dedicated probation agent to expedite the identification, screening, and admission of new drug court participants, while also providing the appropriate level of supervision to current participants.

The presiding judge and a multidisciplinary team of professionals work collaboratively to support the evidence-based program design features and will specifically focus on #2 Equity and Inclusion, #7 Drug Testing, $8 Multidisciplinary Team, #9 Census and Caseload, and #10 Monitoring and Evaluation.
Anoka County is Minnesota’s 4th most populated county with urban, suburban, and rural areas totaling 367,018 residents. There are a total of 23 municipalities within Anoka County.
Partners working to support ACDC and collaborating to apply for this grant include Anoka County Community Corrections, Anoka County Sheriff’s Department, Anoka County Attorney, State Public Defender, treatment providers, and Tenth Judicial District Court.