Van Buren County (MI) Family Drug Treatment Court

OJJDP's Family Drug Courts program builds 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 individuals with substance abuse disorders or substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders, including histories of trauma, who are involved with the family dependency court as a result of child abuse, neglect, and other parenting issues. Applicants must provide services to the children of the parents in the program as well as to the parents. This 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. This program is authorized by 42 U.S.C. 3797u, et seq.

The 36th Circuit Court will implement a project designed to specifically address the needs of substance-dependent parents/caregivers of minor children with open abuse/neglect cases within the 36th Circuit Court. This project is grounded in the principles of Therapeutic Jurisprudence and social learning theory to provide services to both parents/caregivers and children. Moreover, given that all parties involved in abuse/neglect cases comprise a family unit, services will be provided to habilitate the family and work toward reunification (when appropriate). The overarching objective of this project is to increase the capacity of the 36th Circuit Court to effectively intervene in the lives of members of the target population. The project seeks to: 1) ensure the safety of children involved in abuse/neglect cases; 2) reduce the use of drugs/alcohol and criminal activity among parents/caregivers; and 3) facilitate the reunification of families. In order to achieve these goals, the family treatment court will consist of the following activities: comprehensive assessments (e.g., risk/needs, substance abuse, mental health, trauma, etc.); continuum of treatment services (based upon the results of the assessments listed above); comprehensive case management; on-going judicial interaction/supervision; frequent/random drug/alcohol testing; and the use of graduated rewards/sanctions.
CA/NCF