The following sites
contain extensive drug court resources. These sites are increasingly
including tribal drug court specific resource materials. For additional
alcohol and substance abuse resources, see our Alcohol
and Substance Abuse page.
Don't
forgot to attend a special Pre-Conference Institute, Tribal Healing to
Wellness Court Enhancement Training, to be held on Wednesday December 5,
2012, as part of the 13th National Indian
Nations Conference. Wellness Court staff are encouraged to attend the entire
conference, but if you plan to attend just the Wellness Courts Pre-Conference
Institute, no special registration is required. For questions about the
Pre-Conference Institute or the 13th National Indian
Nations Conference,
please contact Lauren or by phone at 323-650-5467.
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts have emerged as a model alternative to
incarceration and as a non-adversarial tool against the debilitating effects of
alcohol and drugs in Indian country. This Institute will provide tools for
already-implemented Tribal Wellness Courts seeking to progress their court to
higher levels of sophistication and sustainability. Training topics will include
team communication, screening and eligibility, legal issues, editing policies
and procedures and participant handbooks, case management, judicial interaction,
collaboration, and process evaluation.
Feedback on Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Application Process
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has requested feedback regarding the
Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant application process. This is your
opportunity to influence the process! NDCI has designed a questionnaire on the
National Drug Court Resource Center website (www.ndcrc.org) or you can access it
by clicking this link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BJAsolicitation2012. Please visit the website
or click on the link and submit your feedback!
Tribal Wellness Courts Program Training/Technical Assistance
The Tribal Law & Policy Institute is
working under a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide Training
and Technical Assistance (T&TA) to Tribal Healing to Wellness (Drug) Courts.
There are three overall project goals for the Institutes T&TA Program:
To provide a wide array of T&TA to assist tribal
jurisdictions in developing tribal adult, juvenile, and/or
family drug courts (wellness courts);
To provide T&TA to strengthen existing Tribal Healing
to Wellness Court programs;
To provide the field with state-of-the-art information
and resources on effective strategies for addressing
substance-abusing offenders in Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts
programs.
Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts: Needs Assessment Report
- As
part of a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to provide training
and technical assistance (T&TA) to Tribal Wellness Courts, the Tribal Law and
Policy Institute (TLPI) sent out a needs assessment survey in November of 2009.
The survey was sent to over 90 tribes that either currently have an active
Wellness Court, or have had a Wellness Court at some time in the past but it is
no longer functioning. Attention was given to ensure that the current 13 BJA
Wellness Court grantees completed the survey. The primary purpose of the survey
was to gain insight into the most pressing needs among active Wellness Courts,
as well as to determine the needs of courts that are no longer functioning, so
that TLPI could focus our efforts on the most relevant T&TA. This report
summarizes the results of this survey and provides an analysis of the
implications for T&TA, BJA and Tribal Wellness Courts.
Proposed VAWA Reauthorization granting Tribal courts criminal
jurisdiction over non-Indians with particular ties to the Tribe for domestic
violence charges:
The National Center for State Courts
has teamed with American University
for an Adult Drug Court Research
to Practice (R2P) Initiative to promote the timely dissemination of
information emerging from research on addiction science, substance abuse
treatment, and adult drug court programs. With funding from BJA and the
National Institute of Justice, the R2P Initiative will produce a series
of webinars, webcasts, and other work products that disseminate
important research to practitioners and policymakers.
Please visit the
new R2P web site at
http://research2practice.org/ for more information on current and
future information resources, including:
Videos on Performance Measurement and Program Evaluation for
Drug Courts
An upcoming webinar on Appropriate Target Population
NIJ has developed a
Logic Model for Adult Drug Court Programs that court administrators
and their partners who want to examine the performance of their drug
courts may find useful. The logic model can help clarify the best way to
use resources and what long- and short-term outcomes drug court teams
should consider measuring. The logic model has six components:
Inputs - financial, staff, equipment and other resources
invested to support the program.
Activities - structured services intended to deliver what is
necessary to achieve objectives.
Outputs - observable and measurable events resulting from
program implementation.
Short-term outcomes - immediate changes realized especially
during program participation.
Long-term outcomes - changes realized after program
participation.
External factors - conditions outside the program that affect
implementation and outcomes.
Did you know NIJ is funding a major drug court evaluation, called the
Multisite Adult Drug Court Evaluation, that is building upon
successful process and impact evaluations of individual adult drug court
programs?
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is pleased to announce the launch
of a new online training program—the
BJA Grant Writing and Management
Academy. The Academy is designed to assist criminal justice
practitioners and state, local, and tribal jurisdictions, including
community and faith-based organizations, through the grant-writing
process and project management activities. Through self-paced modules,
the user will learn about:
Issues and requirements to consider before applying
for BJA funds.
Steps and development required to submit a
well-rounded application.
Management and administration necessary for a
successful project.
Supplemental information focusing on strategic planning
and budget development.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance has established
The
Grant Writing and Management Academy for criminal
justice practitioners and state, local, and tribal
jurisdictions (including any community- and/or
faith-based partners) that apply for or receive federal
grants. This training provides an overview of project
planning, management, administration, and assessment of
federally funded programs. The training encourages
participants to think strategically about how they
develop and fund projects. Participants are introduced
to a variety of methods and tools used to identify
community problems, administer and manage projects, and
assess performance.
The
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded a 2005 process and outcome
evaluation of the four initial Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. All six parts
of the final report from this 2005 NIJ study are now posted on the National
Criminal Justice Reference Service:
Introduction
provides
a detailed overview of this NIJ study. Process and Outcome Evaluations in Four
Tribal Wellness Courts, NIJ-Sponsored, December 2005, NCJ 231167.
Lessons Learned
provides
very helpful “lessons learned” for other Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts.
Lessons Learned in Implementing the First Four Tribal Wellness Courts, NIJ-Sponsored, December 2005, NCJ
231168.
The Tribal
Law and Policy Institute has developed six comprehensive Tribal
Healing to Wellness Court
publications as part of the Tribal Healing to Wellness Court Technical
Assistance Project Resource Publication Series (Adobe
Acrobat Reader is required to view these files). The full series is as
follows:
Healing
to Wellness Courts: A Preliminary Overview of Tribal Drug Courts (initially published in July 1999) provides an overview of
Tribal Drug Courts or Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts. This overview
discusses how the drug court concept is consistent with Native American concepts
of justice and how the drug court concept can be adapted to meet the
specific needs of individual Native American communities. It provides
information concerning the background of the Tribal Healing to Wellness
Courts movement, the unique role and importance of Tribal Justice Systems,
adapting the term "drug court" for Trial Justice Systems, defining
drug courts, and defining Healing to Wellness Courts. It then provides an
overview of some of the critical issues and challenges faced by Tribal
Healing to Wellness Courts, including the challenge of incorporating tribal
custom and tradition, addressing the high volume of alcohol abuse cases, and
addressing jurisdictional and resource limitations.
Tribal
Healing to Wellness Courts: The Key Components is designed to provide suggested key components and recommended
practices needed for Indian Nations and tribal justice systems to consider
as they design, develop, and implement drug courts that meet the needs of
their individual communities. The publication is organized around ten key
components, adapted for Indian nations and tribal justice systems, which
describe the basic elements that define Tribal Healing to Wellness Courts.
The purpose of each component is explained, followed by several recommended
practices that give guidance for implementing each component. Healing to
Wellness Courts help to put misguided individuals back on track, on to a
healing to wellness journey. As this publication sets forth, each tribal
community and nation must define and describe the nature of this healing
journey. Its direction and pathway must be guided by each Indian Nation's
culture, tradition, common practices, and vision.
Tribal
Healing to Wellness Courts: Treatment Guidelines for Adults and Juveniles
(Draft) examines guidelines
that have been developed to provide tribal communities with an overview of
substance abuse treatment strategies as they have been developed by drug
court programs. Tribal programs might consider applying these treatment
strategies along with traditional healing practices. These guidelines draw
upon the experiences of hundreds of state adult and juvenile drug court
programs, operating in various environments and serving a wide range of
individuals addicted to alcohol and/or other drugs. This publication
examines key issues in developing treatment, developing a wellness court
treatment program, adapting treatment program components, special
considerations regarding treatment services, strategies for maintaining sobriety
(relapse prevention), and looking ahead. Please note that this is the first
publication to comprehensively address the difficult and controversial issue
of drug court treatment guidelines - consequently, this publication should also
prove very useful for state drug courts.
Tribal
Healing to Wellness Courts: The Judge’s Bench Book (Draft) is designed to provide
instruction and practical tools for judges in their efforts to guide those traveling
on the road to wellness. It is designed to provide general guidance for
judges, examples of court procedure, and tools to assist judges in their
wellness court role. This benchbook is also useful for wellness court team
members and community leaders who are interested in designing, creating, an
implementing a wellness court program.
Tribal
Healing to Wellness Courts: Program Development Guide (Draft) provides step-by-step recommendations for design,
development, and implementation of Tribal Healing to Wellness Court programs
from a practical standpoint. It is designed to assist steering committees and
planning groups as they (1) use team-based approaches; (2) gain
knowledge of Healing to Wellness Court concepts; (3) incorporate the ten key
components; (4) help establish policies and procedures suitable to the needs
of the tribal community; (5) guide the court to integrate available
resources; (6) develop interagency agreements; (7) incorporate a management
information system to track participants and services; and (8) identify
possible problem areas.
Perceptions of Methamphetamine use in three Western Tribal Communities:
Implications for Child Abuse in Indian Country - Indian country lacks both a
macro and micro study of child abuse and methamphetamines. Because so little is
documented routinely by either law enforcement, social services or medical
professionals in assessing risks and dangers to children from environments where
meth is found, data is difficult to find. However, in an attempt to explore the
increasing concerns raised by the emerging methamphetamine epidemic in Indian
country, professionals from three Western Tribal communities were asked to
complete a survey about their perceptions of meth us and implications for child
abuse in the communities in which they worked. This study was funded through the
Training and Technical Assistance grant that the Tribal Law and Policy Institute
receives for Children’s Justice Act Partnerships in Indian Communities to assist
tribes in addressing serious child abuse. The tribes and individuals that
participated in the study were guaranteed anonymity due to the sensitive nature
of the questions being asked. However, each Tribal Council provided permission
for the surveys to be conducted within their service areas.
The Drug
Court Discretionary Grant Program (DCDG), sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
provides financial and technical assistance to states, state courts, local
courts, units of local government, and American Indian tribal governments
to develop and implement treatment drug courts that effectively integrate
substance abuse treatment, mandatory drug testing, sanctions and
incentives, and transitional services in a judicially supervised court
setting with jurisdiction over nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders.
The Drug Court Planning Initiative (DCPI) is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. This site provides communities participating in DCPI training programs with resource materials that enhance the DCPI training experience. Training resources are provided as supplements to the materials obtained at each DCPI
training program.
The
Drug Court
Clearinghouse Project has been operating at American University
since 1994 and serves as a national clearinghouse for drug court
information and activity. It provides a wide range of office-based
services, including telephone consultation, e-mail responses to
information requests, networking and facilitation of telephone
conference calls among peers to discuss issues of concern, and
dissemination of sample operational materials developed by drug courts.
Sample of Healing to Wellness Court documents found on their site.
Buffalo
Drug Court Database/MIS is a generic Management Information System that
mirrors the actual MIS system used by the Buffalo, NY Drug Court. The
Buffalo DMIS-2003 is a simple, menu-driven system. On-screen forms mimic
those typically used to record information on drug court clients from intake
through to their termination or graduation. The DMIS contains built-in
reports to summarize and print case file information such as a participant’s
current status, outcomes and points earned at each drug court date, and
total points to date.
Notre Dame
Law Review (Word Document)
Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the Drug Treatment Court Movement:
Revolutionizing the Criminal Justice System's Response to Drug Abuse and
Crime in America
The National
Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) is the principal
organization of professionals involved in the development and
implementation of treatment-oriented drug courts. Organized in 1994,
NADCP's members include judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, treatment
providers and rehabilitation experts, law enforcement and corrections
personnel, educators, researchers, and community leaders. Information on Training
and Technical Assistance, Calendar
of Events, Publications,
and Mentor Court Network
and the following Drug Court Practitioner Fact Sheets:
The
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) is the Federal agency charged with
improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and
rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost
to society resulting from substance abuse and mental illnesses.
SAMHSA presents three agency websites that maintain official data files on the
numbers of people using or needing to use the Nation's network of substance
abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services. They also
offer:
Drug addiction can be effectively treated with behavioral-based
therapies and, for addiction to some drugs such as heroin or nicotine,
medications. Treatment may vary for each person depending on the type of
drug(s) being used and multiple courses of treatment may be needed to
achieve success. Research has revealed 13 basic principles that underlie
effective drug addiction treatment discussed in NIDA’s Principles
of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (see below for
complete guide).
The Treatment Improvement
Exchange (TIE) is a resource sponsored by the Division of State and
Community Assistance of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to
provide information exchange between CSAT staff and State and local
alcohol and substance abuse agencies. The TIE Contract is funded by the
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
CSAT Treatment
Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are best practice guidelines for the
treatment of substance abuse. CSAT's Office of Evaluation, Scientific
Analysis, and Synthesis draws on the experience and knowledge of clinical,
research, and administrative experts to produce the TIPs, which are
distributed to a growing number of facilities and individuals across the
country. The audience for the TIPs is expanding beyond public and private
substance abuse treatment facilities as alcohol and other drug disorders
are increasingly recognized as a major problem.
Norchem'sDrug
Testing Quarterly has clear, concise articles and tips put you on top
of the ever-changing world of drug testing. Law-enforcement officers, case
workers, private industry managers, and medical professionals are among
those already benefiting from this timely and informative publication. For
previous editions, see their
Back
Issue page.
Moyers on
Addiction: Close to Home, premiered on PBS stations on March 29, 1998.
This Web companion piece features Science:
The Hijacked Brain, the latest scientific advances in understanding
and treating addiction, plus Animated
Illustrations of the brain and the mechanism of drugs in the body; Treatment:
Changing Lives, how treatment works, types of treatment, profiles of
selected programs, and questions to ask; Prevention:
The Next Generation, what works and what doesn't, who is at risk, and
how we can protect our children; Policy:
The Politics of Addiction, current policy, controversial issues, and
what you can do to help; Viewpoints,
experts debate the hot topics and Help
& Resources, get help now, learn if you or a loved one has a
problem, and find more information and Guides
& Outreach, free, downloadable education guides for viewers,
educators, employers, families, and health professionals.
All recipients of Office of Justice Programs grants must
periodically complete both bi-annual narrative progress reports and quarterly
financial status reports (269's).
Both reporting forms are available in Adobe Acrobat Reader Format.