Drug Treatment Court Works!

To:  The N.C. General Assembly

Save Drug Treatment Courts!

The purpose of this correspondence is to voice my concern regarding the recent recommendations to eliminate Drug Treatment Courts (DTC). Study after study has proven the efficacy of Drug Treatment Courts. Despite the demonstrated success of these courts in reducing recidivism and saving taxpayer dollars, the vast majority of funding for them still comes from “seed” grants and other non-traditional sources. Now, we are informed that even the few recurring institutional funds received from the State are in jeopardy of being cut.

Several DTCs have lost grant funding, while others are now in their final phase of funding that will expire within the next fiscal year. After 10 years of operating DTCs, the time has come to recognize these courts as a legitimate core component of the judicial system. The current portion of funding provided by the State needs to be solidified and the majority funding received from grants and other sources needs to be replaced with permanent recurring dollars from the State. The failure of the Legislature to act will mean the certain demise of DTCs throughout the State.

What are Drug Treatment Courts?

· Therapeutic/Problem Solving Courts that are aimed at holding defendants accountable and stopping the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse.

DTC Facts – Recidivism

· 80% of criminal offenders in the justice system are drug and/or alcohol involved. Most are addicted.
· An independent evaluation of NC DTCs shows that DTC graduates are rearrested at half the rate of non-graduates. 18% of DTC graduates were rearrested in the 12 months after discharge compared to 44% of the comparison group members.

DTC Facts - Cost Effectiveness

· It costs approximately $2,000-$2,500 annually to provide community treatment and supervision as compared to $23,000 annually to house an offender in a NC prison.
· A recent St. Louis study showed that for every dollar in added costs to operate their DTCs, taxpayers realized a savings of $6.32. This represents the expenses that would have been incurred by the taxpayer over a four-year period had the drug court clients been placed on regular probation.

Requests/Action Items

· Solidify existing funding for Drug Treatment Courts
· Support the Sustainability Plan and Budget submitted by the AOC March 1, 2005.

Special Note

· NC Drug Treatment Courts were among the nation's pioneers and stand as model programs for other cities and counties. The Mecklenburg County program has won a national award.
· Three NC DTC Programs will serve as host training sites for the Drug Court Planning Initiative's (DCPI) 2005 National training series.
· The DCPI is the official drug court planning project of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the United States Department of Justice, managed by the National Drug Court Institute (NDCI).
· 20 NC DTC Team Members serve as faculty for the DCPI-NDCI trainings.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Drug Treatment Court Works! Petition to The N.C. General Assembly was created by and written by Janeanne E. Tourtellott (JTourtellott@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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