FY 2010 Drug Court Grant Program

The purpose of the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program (42 U.S.C. 3797u et seq.) is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop and implement drug treatment courts that effectively integrate substance abuse treatment, mandatory drug testing, sanctions and incentives, and transitional services in a judicially supervised court setting with jurisdiction over nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders. The FY 2010 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program will provide grant funds to jurisdictions to implement or enhance a local drug court or to improve, enhance, expand, or financial support drug court services statewide.

St. Clair County, in conjunction with the 20th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois, will use grant funds to enhance the existing drug court by adding a half-time drug court coordinator and two part-time mental health case managers to assist offenders with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health issues. The enhancement project will enable the drug court team to effectively integrate justice system supervision, based on more extensive risk/needs assessment by the drug court coordinator and rapid entry into the program, with specialized case management and linkage to available mental health treatment matched to the intensity of offender needs. The enhancements to the drug court will allow the program to accommodate over four times as many offenders, with a new capacity of 36 participants. The project includes training for staff in the criminal justice and mental health systems on the needs and characteristics of offenders with co-occurring disorders. CA/NCF