DeKalb County Drug Court Enhancement

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program (Byrne Discretionary Program) helps local communities improve the capacity of local justice systems and provides for national support efforts. This project is authorized and funded through a line item in the FY 08 Congressional Budget. Funds should be used for purposes recommended by Congress.

The DeKalb County Drug Court opened less than a year ago and will utilize additional resources to expand staff and services. After a one-year pilot program, the post-plea, pre-sentence Drug Court became fully operational in October 2007 with 28 participants who complete a five-phase program lasting a minimum of 14 months. The project will hire a full-time probation officer who will conduct: 1) initial home visits to assess and provide feedback to the team on the participant's living conditions; 2) unannounced weekend visits to participants for drug testing; 3) visits to participants who are in residential or half-way houses to monitor their progress; 4) an investigation and home/work visit when notified by a treatment provider that a participant has missed an intensive out-patient appointment; and 5) weekly one-on-one meetings with each participant to assess progress and need for referrals to community resources. DeKalb County will: improve the speed of placement into residential or intensive out-patient substance abuse programs by increasing the Drug Court's contribution to treatment programs; obtain psychiatric assessments to diagnose co-occurring disorders; and, provide financial support to participants who lack the means to purchase psychiatric medications.

NCA/NCF