Juvenile Drug Courts: Strategies in Practice

1. Collaborative Planning: Engage all stakeholders in creating an interdisciplinary, coordinated, and systemic approach to working with youth and their families.

2. Teamwork: Develop and maintain an interdisciplinary, nonadversarial work team.

3. Clearly Defined Target Population and Eligibility Criteria: Define a target population and eligibility criteria that are aligned with the program’s goals and objectives.

4. Judicial Involvement and Supervision: Schedule frequent judicial reviews and be sensitive to the effect that court proceedings can have on youth and their families.

5. Monitoring and Evaluation: Establish a system for program monitoring and evaluation to maintain quality of service, assess program impact, and contribute to knowledge in the field.

6. Community Partnerships: Build partnerships with community organizations to expand the range of opportunities available to youth and their families.

7. Comprehensive Treatment Planning: Tailor interventions to the complex and varied needs of youth and their families.

8. Developmentally Appropriate Services: Tailor treatment to the developmental needs of adolescents.

9. Gender-Appropriate Services: Design treatment to address the unique needs of each gender.

10. Cultural Competence: Create policies and procedures that are responsive to cultural differences and train personnel to be culturally competent.

11. Focus on Strengths: Maintain a focus on the strengths of youth and their families during program planning and in every interaction between the court and those it serves.

12. Family Engagement: Recognize and engage the family as a valued partner in all components of the program.

13. Educational Linkages: Coordinate with the school system to ensure that each participant enrolls in and attends an educational program that is appropriate to his or her needs.

14. Drug Testing: Design drug testing to be frequent, random, and observed. Document testing policies and procedures in writing.

15. Goal-Oriented Incentives and Sanctions: Respond to compliance and noncompliance with incentives and sanctions that are designed to reinforce or modify the behavior of youth and their families.

16. Confidentiality: Establish a confidentiality policy and procedures that guard the privacy of the youth while allowing the drug court team to access key information.