Judge Cythia Davis
The Milwaukee County Adult Drug Treatment Court program has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the Agency Research Collaboration Award from the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare (HBSSW) at UW-Milwaukee.
The award, to be presented Oct. 14, recognizes the treatment court program for its “outstanding contribution to the research endeavors of the HBSSW.”
The drug treatment court team collaborates with the school by having a faculty member as an evaluator on the team, said Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Davis. Davis served as a felony court judge and presided over the county’s adult drug treatment court program, as well as the Veterans Treatment Court and the Mental Health Treatment Court, from Jan. 1, 2019 to July 31, 2022.
The evaluator, Assistant Professor Alyssa Sheeran, Ph.D., conducts both quantitative and qualitative research for the program. The work assists the drug treatment court in evaluating the effectiveness of the program, Davis said.
The Milwaukee County Drug Treatment Court was established in 2009 with the intent of enhancing public safety through the reduction of recidivism by coordinating effective & accountable substance abuse treatment & supportive services for offenders with substance abuse problems. The primary goals are: (1) reduce recidivism among drug using offenders; (2) provide effective & accountable community-based alternatives to incarceration; (3) improve public safety; and, (4) effectively manage limited criminal justice system resources.
As of Aug. 1, Davis has rotated assignment to the civil division as the small claims judge, and Judge Carolina Stark rotated to felony court, including treatment court programs. More information about the Milwaukee County and other treatment court programs can be found here. Additional information about the HBSSW award can be found here.