Latino Youth in the Juvenile Drug Court of Orange County, California

Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts: Policy And Practice Scan

“…Existing research on JDTCs tends to focus on whether they "work" rather than "what" they are. Analyses yield varying results on the efficacy of JDTCs, however, most literature includes a call for additional rigorous research to further substantiate if JDTCs have positive effects (U.S. Department of Justice, 2003, Fradella et al 2009, Sheidow et. al.…”

“…Out of this therapeutic jurisprudence philosophy, JDTCs were born. The first drug treatment courts (DTCs) in the United States focused on adults opened in 1989 in Miami-Dade County (Bryan et al 2006, Powalski et al 2008, Fradella et al 2009, Ruiz et al 2009, Stein et al 2015 and eventually grew to over 1,000 DTCs by the turn of the century (U.S. Department of Justice, 2003). The number of juvenile offenders involved with alcohol and other drug use rose during the mid-1990s, around the same time early studies of DTCs begin to document success in reducing recidivism among adult participants (U.S. Department of Justice, 2003).…”

“…The U.S. Department of Justice (2018:1) describes DTCs as, "specialized court docket programs that target criminal defendants and offenders, juvenile offenders, and parents with pending child welfare cases who have alcohol and drug dependency problems." JDTCs are often defined as "specialized" courts with a focus on juvenile offenders with substance use disorders (Fradella et al 2009, Tanner-Smith et al 2016. The U.S. Department of Justice (2018:1) differentiates JDTCs from DTCs in that the former provides "youth and their families with counseling, education, and other services to promote immediate intervention, treatment, and structure; improve level of functioning; address problems that may contribute to drug use; build skills that increase their ability to lead drug-and crime-free lives; strengthen the family's capacity to offer structure and guidance; and promote accountability for all involved.…”

Implementing Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts: A Meta-aggregation of Process Evaluations

“…Examining specific findings, Becerra and Young (2011) and Fradella et al (2009) found that consistent and regular involvement of family and parents positively influenced graduation from a JDTC relative to lower levels of involvement. Similarly, Carey, Waller, and Marchan (2006) found that youth whose families participated in an average of 12 treatment sessions compared to those families participating in an average of 6 were more likely to graduate.…”

“…This finding suggested that correctly diagnosing youth during intake is important, stressing the need for qualified clinical staff who can diagnostically distinguish between substance dependency and substance abuse (Boghosian 2006; Paik 2011). A youth’s mental health state, including later manifestations of mental health issues, was noted as being of great importance for youth staying on track with JDTC programming and ultimately graduating (Fradella et al 2009; Paik 2009). One study noted greater attention and awareness by drug court personnel about mental health issues was needed, particularly for youth with co-occurring disorders, as the youth with co-occurring disorders were less likely to graduate compared to youth who only had a substance abuse issue (Fradella et al 2009; Manchak et al 2016).…”