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Clayton County Adult Felony Drug Court

Award Information

Award #
2009-DC-BX-0067
Location
Awardee County
Clayton
Congressional District
Status
Closed
Funding First Awarded
2009
Total funding (to date)
$221,349

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2009, $221,349)

The Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program is designed to assist states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments in developing and establishing drug courts for substance-abusing adult and juvenile offenders. Drug court programs funded by the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program are required by law to target nonviolent offenders. The program supports the following activities: adult drug court implementation, single jurisdiction drug court enhancement, statewide drug court enhancement, and planning efforts.

The Clayton County Superior Court will use the Drug Court Implementation grant to implement the Clayton County Drug Court for rehabilitating nonviolent offenders through substance abuse treatment. A drug court in Clayton County will address the county's drug problem. The county has been designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and three of the seven municipalities in the county are known for high gang and drug-related activity. Crime in Clayton County has continued to rise despite increased community policing and diversion programs. The county has also experienced an increase in the number of offenders with substance abuse treatment needs. While these increases have occurred, sentencing options did not grow, and thus the applicant convened a Drug Court Steering Committee and created an implementation plan for the Clayton County Drug Court.

Clayton County Superior Court's Drug Court Implementation grant will pay for the salary and fringe benefits for their Drug Court Coordinator and for the drug court team to travel annually to state training and attend the annual National Association of Drug Court Professionals conference. It will also pay for general office equipment and supplies and the printing costs for brochures, participant manuals, information sheets, contracts, and other materials that will be provided to participants, potential partners, and other stakeholders. Through this grant, the Clayton County Drug Court will provide treatment services, medical costs, drug testing, and residential services for participants. Participants will also take family or parenting classes as needed, and receive assistance on their education, job training, or vocational services. The drug court will also pay for off-duty police officers to conduct surveillance of participants by conducting actual home visits and home walk-throughs, curfew checks, and random drug testing.

The grant will also pay for a program evaluator who will assess the program's ability to meet its goals and objectives from inception. The evaluator will also conduct an annual comparison of drug court participants and similar counterparts who went through the traditional justice system. The evaluator will look at graduations, expulsions, compliance rates, and sequential infractions.

CA/NCF

Date Created: September 21, 2009