This paper discusses an analysis of Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts’ impacts regarding the identification and treatment of youth with substance use disorders, including potential wait time for treatment and steps between referral and treatment, noting that insights into the process can inform the field about court practice and areas for improvement.
Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts (JDTCs) provide a critical opportunity to identify and treat youth with substance use disorders (SUD). Structuring JTDCs to minimize process complexity and time to treatment is important. Results across eight JDTCs indicate the number of steps between referral and enrollment varied from 2 to 7, and the potential wait time varied from 1 to 58 days. The number of steps between referral and SUD treatment varied from 3 to 8, and the potential wait time varied from 2 to 118 days. Information regarding JTDC process can inform the field about JTDC practice, including barriers to treatment as well as areas for improvement. (Published Abstract Provided)