News Item

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Talent & Art Show to showcase 6th Judicial District Treatment Court

Posted: Wednesday, May 22, 2024

To celebrate Treatment Court Month, St. Louis County Treatment Courts will host a talent and art show beginning a noon on Friday, May 31, at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center in Duluth.

The event will showcase the talents of those who have progressed through treatment court, as well as those who have mentored and assisted them along the way.

“This is a fabulous way to not only celebrate the achievements of those who have successfully completed mental health or drug court, but also to showcase their incredible talents,” said Duluth Mental Health Court Judge Amy Lukasavitz. “Mental Health Courts are an opportunity to effect sustainable changes for justice-involved people who struggle with mental illness, and this event celebrates those changes.

The talent and art show will be preceded by a joint Mental Health Court and Duluth Drug Court graduation ceremony and mayoral proclamation at 10:30 a.m. The public is invited to attend the graduation to learn more about how treatment courts work.

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.

They do this by working closely with prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, social workers, and other justice system partners to develop a strategy that will compel an offender to complete a treatment program and abstain from repeating the behaviors that brought them to court. Research shows that effective treatment courts improve public safety and save taxpayer dollars.

The Sixth Judicial District has eight Treatment Courts: South St. Louis County DWI Court (a nationally recognized Academy Court), South St. Louis County Mental Health Court, South St. Louis County Veterans Court, South St. Louis County Drug Court, Carlton County Drug Court, Shore Substance Use Recovery Court, Range Hybrid Court, and Range Mental Health Court. For more information about these courts, go to the Sixth Judicial District webpage and click on the Treatment Courts tab.