Marion County Family Treatment Court

The Marion County (Florida) Family Treatment Court (MCFTC) is an established Family Dependency Drug Court which served 38 individuals in the last fiscal year. It will serve about 12 new participants and their families per year (36 total over 3 years). The target population is adults that are involved in the Dependency Court System and have a substance use disorder or dependency and are at substantial risk of permanently losing their child(ren). Participants must also meet statutory eligibility to participate. All types of Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) are available and permitted if determined to be clinically beneficial. No participant is denied access to the program due to use of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved, medically prescribed medications for treatment of substance use disorder or medical or mental illnesses. MCFTC goal is to increase participant engagement in the program, recovery community and in treatment which will decrease the likelihood of participant overdose death, increase rates of parent/child reunification while reducing termination of parental rights, and decrease in re-removal/re-abuse of children due to opioid use. 
 
The purpose of the application is to help participants access recommended services, to enhance and expand evidence-based treatment in the following areas: 1) Payment assistance for accessing appropriate treatment, including but not limited to individual, group, intensive outpatient, Parent Child Psychotherapy, residential treatment, and MATs, (Florida Dependency Drug Court Best Practices V) as well as possible transportation costs if deemed therapeutically necessary. 2) Access to recovery support, medical, social and prevention services (Best Practices VI) including but not limited to anger management, life skills, parenting, peer coaching, recovery capital assessments, and overdose prevention); 3) And assistance for participants in connecting with dependency specific peer and recovery services to assure a reduction in potential overdose or relapse as well as continued recovery beyond completion. The project activities include payment for substance use treatment and recovery related support services and for court team education and conference travel. Family Treatment Court participants will engage in the program for a minimum of seven months with an average of eleven months.  
 
Expected outcomes include increased engagement in programmatic requirements including substance use treatment and recovery support services, reduced possibility of overdose, improved chances of family reunification, decrease in re-removal and re-abuse of children, and education for the court team as demonstrated in the budget.