Snohomish County Juvenile Court R3

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, the Reclaiming Futures program model, and best practices in treatment. 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 Snohomish County juvenile drug courts have been in full operation since 2000. The Offender Drug Treatment Court (ODTC) has graduated 150 youth and the At Risk Youth Drug Treatment Court (ARYDTC) has graduated 78 youth. Snohomish County Juvenile Court sentenced 762 juvenile offenders on criminal adjudications in 2008. Of those 762 dispositions, 321 were adjudicated on a Chemical Dependency Disposition Alternative and 75 youth were accepted into Juvenile Offender Drug Treatment Court (OJDTC). Similarly, in 2008 240 At Risk Youth Petitions were filed in Snohomish County and the ARYDTC accepted 28 cases into the program. In 2008, 2637 youth were admitted into Snohomish County Juvenile Detention and released back into the community. An estimated 80% of Snohomish County juvenile offenders committed to Washington State Juvenile Institutions were diagnosed as having chemical dependency or substance abuse disorders and 60% of those diagnosed had co-occurring mental health problems. In 2008, urinalysis testing revealed that OJDTC reduces drug abuse noting a 6.7% positive rate compared to a 49.48 positive rate for the comparison group. The ARYDTC also showed a reduction in drug abuse by a 21 % positive rate compared to the 54% positive rate for the comparison group. The identified primary drug of abuse was Marijuana for both of the JDTCs and the comparison groups. Marijuana as the primary drug of abuse by juvenile offenders has remained consistent for the past 8 years. The implementation of the MET/CBT-5 treatment model will further reduce substance abuse in Snohomish County. Snohomish County will implement the following new project entitled R3 -- a collaboration committed to helping youth Re-enter, Re-engage, and Re-claim a place in the community to maximize success and serve a broader range of substance abusing dually diagnosed youth. Snohomish County Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts (JDTC's) seek to improve the quality of alcohol and drug treatment and mental health services delivered to youth in the Snohomish County juvenile justice system by providing evidenced based comprehensive assessments of youth offenders by adopting the Reclaiming Futures model and implementing the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) on every youth screened and assessed for services and the Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts. The assessment will be followed by comprehensive individualized case plans using a wrap-around approach that assures coordinated care incorporating the youths natural supports in the community including social activities, mentors, educational and employment services, and other identified supports to help the youth maintain success when court intervention ends.
CA/NCF