Overview
Treatment Court is a common term for drug courts. Treatment Courts represent a shift in the way courts are handling certain offenders and working with key stakeholders in the justice system. In this approach, the court works closely with prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, social workers, and other justice system partners to develop a strategy that will pressure an offender into completing a treatment program and abstaining from repeating the behaviors that brought them to court.
Treatment courts are the single most successful intervention in our nation's history for leading people living with substance use and mental health disorders out of the justice system and into lives of recovery and stability. They improve education, employment, housing, and financial stability; and promote family reunification. Instead of viewing addiction as a moral failing, they view it as a disease. Instead of punishment, they offer treatment. Instead of indifference, they show compassion.
Treatment court strategies include regular appearances before a judge, intensive supervision by a probation officer, frequent drug and alcohol testing that is random and individualized, and using immediate sanctions and incentives to reward program compliance and respond to program non-compliance. Research shows that when these strategies are implemented correctly, treatment courts improve public safety and save taxpayer dollars.
Treatment courts stop the vicious cycle of relapse and recidivism by treating substance use and mental health disorders for individuals involved in the criminal justice system. Treatment Court promote recovery through a coordinated, team approach including cooperation and collaboration of judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, probation authorities, coordinators, treatment providers, law enforcement, evaluators, and other ancillary service providers. Evidence-based practices are used in treatment courts to tailor individualized, appropriate services for participants in the program. The goal of treatment courts is to engage individuals in treatment long enough to experience the benefits of treatment in order to end the cycle of recidivism and successfully treat their substance use and mental health disorders that brought them into the criminal justice system.
Treatment courts are the single most successful intervention in our nation's history for leading people living with substance use and mental health disorders out of the justice system and into lives of recovery and stability. They improve education, employment, housing, and financial stability; and promote family reunification. Instead of viewing addiction as a moral failing, they view it as a disease. Instead of punishment, they offer treatment. Instead of indifference, they show compassion.
Treatment court strategies include regular appearances before a judge, intensive supervision by a probation officer, frequent drug and alcohol testing that is random and individualized, and using immediate sanctions and incentives to reward program compliance and respond to program non-compliance. Research shows that when these strategies are implemented correctly, treatment courts improve public safety and save taxpayer dollars.
Treatment courts stop the vicious cycle of relapse and recidivism by treating substance use and mental health disorders for individuals involved in the criminal justice system. Treatment Court promote recovery through a coordinated, team approach including cooperation and collaboration of judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, probation authorities, coordinators, treatment providers, law enforcement, evaluators, and other ancillary service providers. Evidence-based practices are used in treatment courts to tailor individualized, appropriate services for participants in the program. The goal of treatment courts is to engage individuals in treatment long enough to experience the benefits of treatment in order to end the cycle of recidivism and successfully treat their substance use and mental health disorders that brought them into the criminal justice system.