Denver Youth Development Court

The Grants to Expand Substance Abuse Treatment Capacity for Juvenile Drug Courts Program (here after referred to as the CSAT/OJJDP Juvenile Drug Court Program) supports programs to enhance and expand substance abuse treatment capacity for juvenile drug courts. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) issued a joint solicitation for the FY 2009 CSAT/OJJDP Juvenile Drug Court Program. The purpose of the program is to enhance the capacity of existing juvenile drug courts to serve substance-abusing juvenile offenders through the integration and implementation of the Juvenile Drug Court: Strategies in Practice and the Reclaiming Futures program models. CSAT will provide funding for the treatment component of the program and OJJDP will provide funding for the operation of the juvenile drug court component.

The Denver Juvenile and Family Treatment Accountabilities for Safer Communities (TASC) program of the Denver Juvenile Probation & Court will expand and enhance the Denver Youth Development Court (DYDC) through the addition of the Reclaiming Futures program model and evidence based Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach and Assertive Continuing Care. The DYDC will enhance current functioning by incorporating the Reclaiming Futures screening, assessment and treatment components to meet the context-specific treatment and continuing care needs of this high needs population. DYDC will certify several culturally competent and community-based providers to administer A-CRA, and TASC will make referrals to appropriate agencies based on their administration of the GAIN, and will support ACRA services through the provision of Assertive Community Care (ACC). The program, designed to expand and enhance the existing drug court capacity for juvenile offenders with treatment level substance abuse and/or co-occurring disorders, will provide the ACRA/ACC model to 200 court-involved youth between the ages of 12 to 17 and their families over a 4 year period. A-CRA/ACC certified clinicians located in client neighborhoods will deliver treatment services and supports that respond to each client's substance abuse issues, developmental stage and life circumstances. Additionally, DYDC will utilize a family centered probation model that combines supervision and support for all family members in need. DYDC will integrate current innovations including its Denver Police Department Law Enforcement Advocacy program to provide community accountability and mentoring support for project participants. In addition, the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect will provide parenting services for teens with children in order to strengthen child protective factors and prevent relapses associated with the high stress of parenting. Finally, DYDC will expand its volunteer community review board to assist with victim reparation, offender competency and ongoing support for youth and families after their justice involvement. In addition to assessing recidivism and program completion, the program evaluation is designed to assess the effects of the ACRA and ACC models on adjudicated, substance abusing youth with co-occurring disorders in a treatment court setting. CA/NCF