August 2019
New Tool Helps Treatment Courts
The National Drug Court Resource Center (NDCRC) and the Justice Programs Office (JPO) team in the School of Public Affairs at American University launched a Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) Program Assessment Tool to help treatment court professionals identify and examine areas where racial and ethnic disparities may exist in their court programs.

Although research has shown that treatment courts are an effective solution to helping justice-involved individuals, there is a trend that shows disparities may exist in who has access to the programs, completion rates, and recidivism outcomes.

Three things you should know about the RED Program Assessment Tool:
  • It’s FREE, user-friendly, and uses a secure web-based platform;
  • It’s a comprehensive assessment for treatment court programs; and
  • It provides recommendations to treatment court teams.

To learn more or to sign up to participate to take the RED Program Assessment, contact NDCRC at (202) 885-2875 or [email protected]  
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Issue Brief
The National Drug Court Resource Center’ s issue brief on Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) in Treatment Courts is now available! In this issue brief, author Dr. John R. Gallagher focuses on racial and ethnic disparities in treatment courts and the potential solutions to fix those disparities. 

Dr. Gallagher showcases the work of the St. Joseph County (Indiana) treatment court to address this gap. Dr. Gallagher brings specific attention to the use of Habilitation Empowerment Accountability Therapy (HEAT) as an intervention directly targeting an underserved group, as well as the inclusion of a researcher on the team at St. Joseph County, and the hiring of recovery coaches to help address barriers to recovery such as employment, housing, and education. 
New Look. More Great Resources.
Have you seen the National Drug Court Resource Center 's recently refreshed website? Head over to ndcrc.org to fall in love again with our resource library, drug court video, issue briefs, drug court map, podcasts, and so much more! With a cleaner look and feel and improved navigation, we will continue providing useful tools and resources to drug court teams across the country. 

In light of the refresh, we are taking some time to highlight our favorite tools and resources on NDCRC’s Twitter page! Head over to @theNDCRC next week as we launch our weekly feature of the tools you love and the ones you’ve yet to see. Just look for the hashtag #WebsiteWednesdays
News from National Family Drug Court, Children and Family Futures
Children and Family Futures (CFF) presented the 2019 Children and Families Program at this year’s National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) RISE19 conference. You can view the program here .
 
In case you missed the Family Drug Court Learning Academy’s live webinar, The Role of Resource Parents in Supporting Family Recovery and Reunification in Family Treatment Courts , you can now view the recording and download resources here .
 
CFF’s next webinar, In-Home Population, will take place on September 19th . Visit here for more information on this and for other Family Drug Court TTA Learning Academy webinars.
 
And be sure to check out the Family Drug Court blog to catch up on relevant posts for practitioners in the drug court field, and don’t forget to subscribe to the CFF newsletter!
News from Center for Court Innovation
The Center for Court Innovation is excited to announce the release of The 10 Essential Elements of Opioid Intervention Courts , which was created in partnership with a committee of experts and the New York State Unified Court System. This publication defines the core practices of opioid intervention courts and offers guidance to help local court systems develop their own programs. 

This guiding document is accompanied by Court Responses to the Opioid Epidemic: Happening Now , which provides a snapshot of some strategies being used by justice practitioners around the country to prevent overdose deaths and save lives. In the area of risk assessment, the Center has released Beyond the Algorithm: Pretrial Reform, Risk Assessment, and Racial Fairness . Drawing on a case study of 175,000 defendants in New York City, this report, produced with the support of Arnold Ventures , examines the impact of risk assessment on racial disparities in pretrial decisions.
News from Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Tribal Veteran Wellness Court Symposium
August 22-23, 2019 | Missoula, MT

The Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) in partnership with the National Native Child Trauma Center, NADCP, Justice for Vets, and the American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center are pleased to offer this free two-day Veterans Court Symposium highlighting important considerations for serving and treating Native veterans.

The Veteran Wellness Court Symposium will bring together tribal courts, state courts, and veterans service providers along with scholars, technical assistance providers, and researchers to discuss veterans treatment courts, strategies for serving rural and tribal communities, partnerships with law enforcement, and addressing the opioid crisis.

Dr. Julie Marie Baldwin, Associate Director for Research at JPO will be presenting at the symposium on Veterans, Tribes, and the Critical Role of Data. Her session will take place on Friday, August 23 from 1:15 to 2:30 PM (Mountain Time). 
Events
Legislation Updates
This act establishes a pilot program which allows 50 clients experiencing homelessness and opioid use disorders to have almost immediate access to services. Provided a client qualifies as experiencing homelessness and having a history of overdose, this program will provide them with immediate medication-assisted treatment, intensive case management, and access to stable, sober housing in order to promote recovery.

Due to the success and proactive approach by their Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services (YRS), Delaware voted to repeal the existence of their family drug court program. With YRS developing and implementing an assessment tool that helped to identify justice involved youth with substance use disorders, the need for post-adjudication treatment court involvement was greatly diminished.

With a view to expanding the system of mental health courts in New Hampshire and specifically looking to extend these courts to the four smallest counties in New Hampshire, the Senate passed a bill to create a commission containing all the major stakeholders in the process. This commission will review best practices and ensure that all mental health courts are abiding, as well as making recommendations regarding training for new and established mental health courts.

With the passage of this bill, all public and private elementary, middle and high schools are required to possess an opioid antagonist such as naloxone. This act also ensures that any school personnel who, in good faith, administers naloxone is exempt from any criminal or civil liability related to the application.

Amending several other acts, this act addresses both needle exchange and testing equipment for controlled substances. Eliminating language from a previous act about needle exchange programs, North Carolina is now allowed to use state funds to help purchase needles and other injection supplies. Language is inserted into a separate act to allow the legal possession and distribution of testing equipment that can help a person detect the purity, strength, and potential contaminants in a controlled substance.
The National Drug Court Resource, Policy, and Evidence-Based Practice Center ’s mission is to equip the drug court field with open access to a wide variety of resources and research, helping treatment courts run more effectively.
The  National Drug Court Resource, Policy, and Evidence-Based Practice Center is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and operated by the Justice Programs Office (JPO) at American University. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse the content of this newsletter

Please email  [email protected]  with any inquiries. 
National Drug Court Resource Center | Justice Programs Office
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