Enhancement of the Clark County Municipal Court Drug Court

The Clark County Municipal Court proposes to enhance its operational adult drug court.  The Adult Drug Court operates within the Clark County Municipal Court located at 50 East Columbia Street in Springfield, Ohio and currently has its initial certification from The Supreme Court of Ohio.  The purpose of the Adult Drug Court enhancement is to scale up the existing drug court capacity, to provide critical support services and to expand court services while using the most current evidence-based principles and practices.  The best practices of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals that will be addressed are Complementary Treatment and Social Services, Drug and Alcohol Testing, Multidisciplinary Team, Census and Caseloads, and Monitoring and Evaluation.  (located on pages  1, 2, 13 and 14 of proposal narrative.) Expected outcomes are increased drug court capacity by adding additional staffing, increased drug testing with negative results, and successful completion of drug court candidates.  Participants in the Drug Court Program will start in the program post-adjudication.  At this time the program is designed to serve 15 participants per year.  The Clark County Municipal Court intends of increasing the proposed number of participants to 25 per year, if the grant funds are awarded.  Therefore, a proposed number of 80 participants would receive services from the grant over the four year grant cycle.  The target population is any Clark County resident, age 18 or over, that is convicted of misdemeanors that are directly or indirectly a result of their substance abuse.  Participants must have a substance abuse disorder diagnosis and a treatment case plan.  MAT services will be available to any participants meeting criteria for the use of them.  The average length of the Adult Treatment Court is 18 months, with a minimum length of 12 months.  A participant could potentially be in the program for 5 years if needed.  The Clark County Municipal Court does not receive any funding from any federal agencies, including the Bureau of Justice Assistance.