Family Drug Court Program

The purpose of the Family Drug Courts Program is to build the capacity of states, state and local courts, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments to either implement new drug courts or enhance pre-existing drug courts for substance-abusing adults involved with the family dependency court as a result of child abuse and neglect issues. Applicants must provide services to the children of the parents in the program as well as to the parents. The program provides seed money, not long-term support. OJJDP expects successful applicants to develop and implement a sustainability plan during the grant period to continue operation of the family drug court when the grant ends. The program is authorized under 42 U.S.C. 3797u et seq.

The Hillsdale County Family Drug Treatment Court, learning from its three years of operation, will integrate a new trauma informed paradigm that will enhance communication, improve decision-making, increase community involvement, and strengthen service provision for parents, children, and the court team. By identifying and addressing parent and child trauma, the goals of HCFDTC-securing child safety, ensuring child well-being, and permanency for children with their biological parents-will be increasingly achieved. A resiliency model that builds on current research will drive interventions to reduce the deleterious effects of trauma on parents and children. All parents will receive neurodevelopmental trauma assessments followed by an evidence based substance abuse and trauma curriculum Seeking Safety. Neurodevelopmental prenatal exposure and trauma assessments will occur for all children followed by the evidence based treatments of Parent Child Interaction Therapy and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, based on child age. Both therapies involve parent participation and are attachment based. Community medical personnel will be trauma trained and actively involved with HCFDTC parents and children. HCFDTC, building on the ongoing support of Western Michigan University's Southwest Michigan Childrens' Trauma Assessment Centers trauma expertise, will develop a national prototype for a trauma informed drug court.
CA/NCF