Drug Court’s mission is to provide court-supervised treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Four Rivers Behavioral Health’s Center for Specialized Addiction Services provides all outpatient treatment groups for Drug Court in our region.
Drug Court in the state has been very effective since it’s inception. For every $1 spent on Drug Court graduates, the state saves $2.72 on what it would have spent on incarcerating these individuals.
The program has helped reduce illicit drug use and related criminal activity and lowered rearrest, reconviction and reincarceration rates. Drug Court coordinates the efforts of the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social services and treatment communities to actively intervene and break the cycle of substance abuse, addiction and crime.
The program consists of three phases that last at least one year and are followed by aftercare. Drug Court staff and participants work together to develop individual program plans with specific responsibilities and goals with timetables.
Plans include group, family and individual counseling; frequent and random urine testing; education and vocational training; scheduled payments of restitution, child support and court fees; and health and community activities. Participants report directly to their Drug Court judge, who rewards progress and sanctions noncompliance.