Juvenile Drug Court Implementation Grant, US Dept of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Drug Courts Program Office
FY= July 1 - June 30

The Mercer Vicinage Juvenile Drug Court will use grant funds to implement a post-adjudication drug court for nonviolent juvenile offenders between the ages 13-17 who have a demonstrated level of alcohol and/or drug abuse. The drug court will serve approximately 150 juveniles and family members over the three year project period. The principal goals of the program are to: reduce drug abuse and delinquency by juveniles; increase school enrollment, attendance, and performance; provide training and/or employment opportunities; and provide expanded family/care giver services for juvenile drug court participants. The drug court program is 12-15 months in length and provides substance abuse treatment, as well as educational sessions that address anger management, violence prevention, victimization issues, and values formation. Individual participants who require additional intervention will be linked to appropriate community service providers to continue to address these issues. The grant recipient will conduct process and outcome evaluations. The process evaluation will analyze the operational components of the drug court program and will be closely linked to the MIS. The outcome evaluation will facilitate the compilation of information to monitor the impact of the drug court on participants. It will monitor recidivism outcomes for a period of 1-2 years post drug court and will develop uniform key information to track using existing data collection tools for up to two years from when the juvenile exits the drug court program. The grant recipient will coordinate this effort with the following agencies or offices: the New Jersey State Judiciary, the Mercer Vicinage Family Division, the New Jersey Department of Health, the Mercer County Youth Services Commission, Mercer Street Friends, and the Juvenile Justice Commission.