Anne Arundel County Juvenile Drug Court

The Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program is designed to assist states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments in developing and establishing drug courts for substance-abusing adult and juvenile offenders. Drug court programs funded by the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program are required by law to target nonviolent offenders. The Program supports the following activities: Adult drug court implementation, Juvenile drug court implementation, Family drug court implementation, Single jurisdiction drug court enhancement, Statewide drug court enhancement, and planning efforts.

The Anne Arundel County Juvenile Drug Court Program (JDCP) will use an innovative, collaborative and systemic approach to provide intensive therapeutic and supervision services to address criminal and anti-social behaviors associated with non-violent, juvenile substance abusers. The JDCP is based on the Juvenile Drug Court Demonstration Project currently operational in Anne Arundel County. Stakeholders and partners in these efforts include the juvenile justice system (judge, district attorney, defense bar, juvenile probation, and drug court office), school personnel, law enforcement, substance abuse treatment and mental health providers, and community agencies. In addition to assisting the delinquent youth in achieving familial unification and law-abiding productivity, lessening the monetary impact on society and developing new relationships with untapped community resources to ensure long-term program viability are of key importance. The program is guided by the documents: Defining Drug Court: Key Components and Juvenile and Family Drug Courts: An Overview.

Through the use of frequent judicial supervision, applying incentives and sanctions in a fair, consistent manner, and an individualized service plan, participants will remain in a structured treatment setting for 9 to 18 months as part of a 4-phase program. Participants will be required to attend school, GED program, vocational training program, and/or be employed. Each youth will be involved in community service. Family members will be required to participate in the defendant's recovery as part of the in-home family-counseling model the JDCP uses. Graduates will demonstrate lower recidivism rates and improved measures of individual and family functioning than those who have not participated. Additionally, graduates will be more involved in productive community activities than their counterparts who are not participating in the program. These activities may include, but are not limited to, school, employment, community service, and volunteering.

CA/NCF