Miami-Dade BIRT Project

The Eleventh Judicial Juvenile Drug Court (JDC) was established on January 31, 2001 as a mechanism to increase the participation of juveniles, arrested and identified as having a substance abuse problem, in community-based substance abuse intervention and treatment services. The JDC is a post-adjudicatory model and is a condition of participants' probation order. The JDC goal is to reduce juvenile recidivism rates by providing offenders with the tools and community support to assist them in curbing the substance abuse that may be putting them at risk of delinquent behavior. Initiated as a pilot project designed to serve 50 juveniles in a program lasting no longer than 12 months, this court remains with one judge and a very limited capacity. Its target population is Miami-Dade youth aged 13-17 who have been arrested and identified as having a moderate to severe drug use/abuse problem, i.e., "monthly or more frequent use" to "weekly or more use" of marijuana, or cocaine/crack, or other illegal substances or any combination of these drugs, with related impairment which would allow for a DSM-IV classification of substance dependence.

The Miami Dade Brief Interventions and Referrals to Treatment (BIRT) Project will enhance the capacity of the Eleventh Judicial Juvenile Drug Court to improve and increase the availability of substance abuse services by establishing partnerships between the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Services Department/Juvenile Assessment Center and the treatment provider Here's Help, Inc. to ensure that substance using juvenile offenders receive effective, appropriate treatment early on before they become substance abusers. The project goal is to increase the provision and effectiveness of outpatient treatment for adolescents with low levels of alcohol and other substance use disorders through the implementation of Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for adolescents in the juvenile justice system via the Brief Intervention and Referrals to Treatment (BIRT) model. The desired outcome for this project is to show sustained reduction in substance use for adolescents receiving the interventions. CA/NCF