Plan and Implement a Juvenile Drug Court in Jefferson County, Kentucky

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) seeks to increase public safety through an innovative, cross-system, collaborative response to individuals with mental illness who come in contact with the criminal or juvenile justice systems. This program is funded through Public Law 111-8 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2009). The program is designed to increase public safety by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice, and mental health and substance abuse treatment systems to increase access to services for offenders with mental illness. Activities under this initiative will encourage early intervention for 'system-involved' individuals with mental illness; provide new and existing mental health courts with various treatment options; maximize diversion opportunities for non-violent offenders with mental illness and co-occurring disorders; promote training for justice and treatment professionals on criminal justice processed and mental health and substance abuse issues; and facilitate communication, collaboration, and the delivery of support services among justice professionals, treatment and related service providers, and governmental partners.

The Kentucky Administrative Office of the Court will utilize its $249,932 FY 2009 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Category II Planning and Implementation Grant to eliminate the duplication, interruption, and fragmentation of the system of care services for the MI/COD population. It will serve a minimum of thirty (30) youth the first year and then up to forty-five (45) youth in each subsequent year. It will also include the development of a 'one front door' entry system for youth to access mental health and substance abuse treatment services, through the Louisville Adolescent Network for Substance Abuse & Co-Occurring Treatment (LANAcAT) network. The project will also adopt a framework similar to a mental health court or a juvenile drug court to facilitate the coordination of treatment services across the agencies, and to promote the needed accountability for both the youth being served and the agencies providing the services.

CA/NCF