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Drug Courts
Contact Info
Juvenile Drug Courts
Juvenile drug court programs provide the intensive judicial intervention and intensive community supervision of juveniles involved in substance abuse that is not generally available through the traditional juvenile court process.
The juvenile drug court approach is designed to fill this gap by
providing immediate and continuous court intervention in the lives of
children using drugs or involved in family situations in which substance
addiction is present. This intervention includes requiring the child,
and often the family, to begin treatment, submit to frequent drug
testing, appear at regular and frequent court status hearings, and
comply with other court conditions geared to accountability,
rehabilitation, long-term sobriety, and cessation of criminal activity.
The enhancements introduced by the juvenile drug court process include:
Juvenile drug court programs provide the intensive judicial intervention and intensive community supervision of juveniles involved in substance abuse that is not generally available through the traditional juvenile court process.
With the growing prevalence of substance abuse among juveniles and the complexity of their treatment, which must involve both the child and his or her living environment, the traditional juvenile justice process may be unable to deal effectively with the whole problem that leads juveniles to commit drug offenses.
- Immediate intervention by the court and continuous supervision by the judge of the progress of the juvenile and his or her family;
- The development of a program of treatment and rehabilitation services that addresses family problems, not simply the child's;
- Immediate response by the court to the child's needs and situation, as well as to noncompliance by either the child or the family with the court's program conditions; and
- Judicial leadership that brings together schools, treatment resources, and other community agencies to achieve the drug court's goals.1
California's first juvenile drug court began in Tulare County
in 1995. Today there are forty-eight juvenile drug courts in
California.
1Excerpted from American University, Juvenile Drug Courts: Preliminary Report (May 1, 1997) p. 2
Resources on California Juvenile Drug Courts:
California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs: Drug Court Programs Fact Sheet
http://www.adp.ca.gov/FactSheets/DrugCourtPrograms.pdf
Changing Behavior: Incentives and Sanctions in Juvenile Dependency Drug Court Fact Sheet