City of Kansas City, Missouri Municipal Court will enhance Adult Drug Court services and programming to provide gender responsive programming specific to women experiencing substance use issues.

The Kansas City Municipal Drug Court is a comprehensive, rehabilitative program serving municipal court defendants in Kansas City, Missouri who have substance use disorder. With the requested enhancement funding, the treatment court will implement a dedicated women’s recovery pathway, incorporating gender-responsive and trauma-informed approaches to better address the unique needs and risks of system-involved women. Primary activities include screening and assessing all women referred to drug court using the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment; connecting women to transitional, supportive housing; providing women with individual trauma therapy integrated with evidence-based treatment programs; and conducting a thorough project evaluation. Expected outcomes include increasing phase completion rates for women, increasing graduation rates for women, expanding the number of women served, and decreasing women’s recidivism rate.