The Third Branch
Local courts benefit from federal grants
Four Wisconsin circuit courts will benefit from Bureau of Justice Assistance grants awarded in September.
Waukesha awarded grant for drug treatment court
The Waukesha County Criminal Justice Collaborating Council's (CJCC) June application to fund a drug court has been approved by the U.S. Dept. of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance. After a three-month planning and start-up period, 75 non-violent adult offenders with a history of drug abuse will be admitted to the program over a three-year period.
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Judge William J. Domina, who presides over the Waukesha County's Alcohol Treatment Court, will also preside over the county's new drug treatment court. |
A CJCC committee on Drug Abuse Trends, chaired by District Atty. Brad Schimel, had been struggling to address rising opiate abuse in the community. A presentation by representatives from Rock County's drug court spurred the CJCC Executive Committee, including Chief Judge J. Mac Davis, County Executive Dan Vrakas, and County Board Chairman Jim Dwyer, to push the grant application forward last spring. CJCC Coordinator Rebecca Luczaj prepared the application, which resulted in a $350,000 award. Referrals to the drug court will be via state/defense agreements, including deferred prosecution and plea agreements. Waukesha's current alcohol treatment court Judge William J. Domina will handle the new drug court as well. Selection of a program vendor will take place later this year.
In addition to starting a drug treatment court, Davis said Waukesha County will be hosting a January 2012 training session sponsored by the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance (OJA) entitled "Research-Based Smarter Sentencing." The program is designed to offer the latest evidence-based research into sentencing and related criminal justice activities. After offering the program to a national audience in Philadelphia, more locally accessible venues were sought this year.
The training session will be presented by the Minnesota-based Carey Group, Inc. and the Justice Management Institute (JMI). Waukesha County will be sending a team of seven or eight people to the training, including judges, district attorneys, public defenders, and state Department of Corrections representatives. Four other southeastern counties have indicated that they will be sending teams as well. A similar session is being sponsored in Eau Claire County.
Milwaukee County Awarded Family Drug Treatment Court Grant
Milwaukee County has been awarded a $650,000 grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to implement a Family Drug Treatment Court in Children's Court. The court is designed to improve timely and effective identification, assessment, treatment and, hopefully, reunification with parents whose substance abuse has resulted in placement of their child in out-of-home care. The targeted group is parents or guardians of children with priority on new emergency detentions in which the child is age 12 years or younger. "The receipt of this grant is the culmination of the collaboration of the Children's Court staff, Behavioral Health Division, District Attorney's Office, the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare and community agencies who have created a plan to assist the targeted families," said Chief Judge Jeffrey A. Kremers. "This is an opportunity for parents to participate in a voluntary program in which they will enroll in substance abuse treatment, receive recovery support for health care, housing, education, employment and transportation. I commend both Judge Karen Christenson and Liz Finn Gorski for their work on this effort."
The model for the grant has been in development for more than a year. The OJJDP funding will support a full-time project coordinator, drug testing, performance monitoring and evaluation that will allow the Family Drug Treatment Court to become institutionalized in the community. The grant is for three years, and openings are available for 94 participants at any one time. Several hundred individuals are anticipated to be served over the term of the grant. The grant also includes plans to sustain the treatment court beyond the three years.
Grant to help Ashland County establish adult drug court
The Ashland County Drug Court Team has been awarded a $349,997 grant that will empower the drug court team to plan and establish an adult drug court that will serve approximately 12-15 participants per year. Prior to applying for the grant, the drug court team completed the Drug Court Planning Initiative Training sponsored by the National Center for Drug Courts in April 2010. Ashland County has experienced a large increase in demand for alcohol and drug treatment over the past several years, with prescription drug abuse emerging as an area of particular concern. The new Drug Court will offer services based on the seven design features and 10 key components of drug court recommended by the National Center for Drug Courts, including: culturally appropriate services for clients, including Native American treatment programs; minimum participation time of 42 weeks for individuals accepted into the program; and comprehensive recovery resources, including mandatory job training/placement, alcohol and drug treatment, and housing assistance, among other things.
Participants will be accepted into the program under a deferred prosecution/post-adjudication model. All appropriate arrestees will be considered for inclusion in the drug court program. Priority will be given to participants who screen positively for drug dependency (as opposed to abuse), repeat offenders, and offenders who are flagged as being at medium to high risk for recidivism by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections COMPAS system, an evidence-based risk assessment system that will be coming online in Ashland County by the end of 2011.
Outagamie receives grant for mental health court
Outagamie County received $250,000 for planning and implementing a "Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program."
The Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper reports the grant will be used to hire a mental health coordinator and to launch a new court in 2012 to better address non-violent, mentally ill offenders.
One of the goals of the two-year program is to reduce recidivism by providing proper treatment for people with mental health issues, according to the Post-Crescent.
"The grant requires a $73,000 match, which will be met with budgeted funds from the clerk of courts, district attorney's and volunteer in offender services offices and health and human services department, plus additional in-kind donations by the Appleton Police Department, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) of the Fox Valley and the Wisconsin public defender's office," the newspaper reported.