Last week, JPO's Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts Training and Technical Assistance Initiative (JDTC TTA) team hosted several pilot courts from across the country here at American University for a three-day long training on the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Guidelines . The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention published these guidelines, a compilation of recommended evidence-based practices for juvenile drug treatment courts (JDTCs), in 2016. They in turn commissioned a research project to test the efficacy of the guidelines over the course of several years. Our JDTC TTA team has been charged with training courts on the guidelines so that they can participate as test cases in the research study. This three-day training was a first major step in helping the pilot courts learn about and implement the guidelines. 
 
During the training our JDTC TTA team, along with our partners from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals , Reclaiming Futures , and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges , examined big picture theory, the nuts and bolts of day-to-day practice, and the inherent tension between therapy and judicial oversight with professionals from eight different courts.

We will continue to work with the pilot courts and will visit their programs over the next year to provide individualized strategic planning and troubleshooting.