Enhancing Youth Outcomes Throught Juvenile Drug Court Strategies

The Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program builds the capacity of states, state and local courts, units of local government, and federally recognized tribal governments to enhance existing drug courts or implement new juvenile drug treatment courts (JDTCs) for individuals with substance abuse problems or co-occurring mental health disorders, including histories of trauma. Under Category 2, Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Enhancement grants are available to jurisdictions with a fully operational (for at least 1 year) juvenile drug treatment court to enhance the operation of the court.

The Rhode Island Family Court (RIFC) JDTC program will build a sustainable JDTC that provides equitable and effective juvenile justice intervention to enhance community safety and empower youth. Consistent with the JDTC model, the RIFC JDTC will use an evidence­-based treatment approach with an emphasis on matching treatment to adolescent substance use, mental health, and co-occurring disorders. The four primary goals of the program are to (1) ensure equitable treatment for all youth, (2) implement effective contingency management and community collaboration,(3) develop an age-appropriate peer support network for all youth entering the RIFC JDTC, and (4) enhance monitoring by increasing access to supervised drug screening. To achieve these goals, the RIFC will implement the use of a standardized and evidenced-based substance use disorder mental health and risk screening tool to determine eligibility and improve equity of access to care, develop a graduated sanctions grid, develop long term partnerships to enhance peer supports, and increase resources for supervised drug screens. CA/NCF