Since 1998 the AOD Division has been working under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA),and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This collaborative effort allows the AOD Division to provide training and technical assistance to jurisdictions who have received funding from BJA/OJJDP for planning, implementing, or enhancing juvenile drug courts. This initiative is focused in several areas:

1. Training for the jurisdictions currently planning new juvenile drug courts under the Drug Courts Planning Initiative (DCPI). This three-part training series has been expertly designed to guide interdisciplinary teams through the complex process of juvenile drug court program development. Teams must consist of a core group of seven including a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, school representative, treatment representative, court coordinator, and an evaluator. Jurisdictions may also include additional team members such as probation, law enforcement, mental health professionals, or other community stakeholders.

 At each training, the team is assigned one of our “experts from the field” as a facilitator to help them accomplish the goals of the training. The goal of the first training, “Juvenile Drug Courts: Theory to Practice” is to prepare jurisdictional teams to begin the planning process by laying the foundation of a strength-based and developmentally appropriate structure, clarifying the purpose of and the elements necessary for establishing an effective juvenile drug court. The goal of the second training, “Fundamentals of a Juvenile Drug Court,” which is in a conference format, is to enhance team interaction, increase juvenile drug court core knowledge, and plan for implementation. The goal of the third and final training, “Operationalizing Your Juvenile Drug Court” is to help jurisdictions move from the planning stage to the implementation stage.

2. Training for jurisdictions who have received BJA funds to implement or enhance juvenile drug courts (implementation grantees). Each jurisdiction attends a three-day intensive training to assist them in solving the programmatic issues that arise in the day-to-day operation of juvenile drug courts (i.e., staff transition, maintaining targeted capacity, treatment, team building, drug testing, sustainablility, resource allocation, et cetera). This training requires a core team of seven, including the judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, court coordinator, evaluator, school representative, and treatment representative; however, jurisdictions may choose to include probation, law enforcement, mental health professionals, or other community stakeholders.

3. Technical Assistance for juvenile drug courts throughout the nation. A variety of technical assistance is available from office-based consultations or conference calls to intensive, on-site consultations with professionals who have expertise in juvenile drug court design and operation. Intensive on-site services are primarily provided to BJA-funded juvenile drug courts. Our extensive database covers such topics as drug court design, adolescent treatment, case management, sustainability planning, family engagement, and relapse prevention(see attached list for a complete listing of available topics).

4. The design and development of interdisciplinary subject matter trainings on vital topics including adolescent development, effective juvenile incentives and sanctions, and innovative developments in adolescent treatment. Each year, pending available funding, we canvas the nation’s juvenile drug court practitioners to ascertain what topics would be of interest. From this survey, topic specific trainings are developed and offered free of charge to the juvenile justice field.

5. Development of cutting-edge research and publications, including monographs, benchcards, and literature surveys.