Drug Court Technical Assistance
Drug Court Clearinghouse
The BJA Drug Court Clearinghouse at American University, operating
since 1994, serves as a national clearinghouse for drug court information
and activity. The Clearinghouse provides a wide range of office-based
services relating to drug court programs if all types—adult, juvenile,
family and tribal—including: telephone consultation, e-mail responses
to information requests, networking assistance and facilitation
of telephone conference calls among peers to discuss issues of concern;
dissemination of sample operational materials developed by drug
courts; and preparation and regular updating of a wide variety of
summary "fact sheets" and memos. These include summaries
of drug court activity nationally, evaluation findings, and caselaw
and statutory developments. The Clearinghouse also compiles and
disseminates summaries of drug court policies and practices in a
wide range of areas and emerging issues reflected in Clearinghouse
inquiries and summarized in a "frequently asked ked questions"
memo series.
In addition, the Clearinghouse:
- Collects, catalogues, and maintains a reference collection
of over 14,000 volumes consisting of operational, training and research
materials relating to drug court programs. This collection is housed
in a dedicated library at the project's office in Washington
D.C. which is open and regularly accessed by practitioners and researchers.
Copies of Clearinghouse materials in hard copy which are requested
by practitioners via telephone and email are scanned and transmitted
electronically. Representative documents from the Clearinghouse
Collection are posted on the Clearinghouse website (www.american.edu/justice)
which is updated on a continuing basis.
- Tracks the development and implementation of drug courts
and follows up with all jurisdictions receiving BJA drug court training
assistance and/or funding regarding implementation development and
technical assistance needs. Information regarding drug court activity
and implementation, including the judges and other contact officials
involved with each program, is compiled in a data base that is available
to BJA and other TA and Training providers.
Clearinghouse services are available to the public, including BJA
and other agency grantees, federal, state and local agencies, courts
and justice system agencies, general government agencies, and other
individuals seeking information on drug courts.
Contact:
BJA Drug Court Clearinghouse
Justice Programs Office, School of Public Affairs
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Brandywine, Suite 100
Washington D.C. 20016-8159
Tel: 202/885-2875Fax: 202/885-2885
e-mail: justice@american.edu
Web: www.american.edu/justice
Adult
Sponsored by BJA, the NDCI Adult Technical Assistance initiative
provides technical assistance services to adult drug court programs
throughout the country. Focusing on individual jurisdictions, TA
services range from office based telephone assistance and conference
calls, to regional training presentations and onsite visits by trained
consultants. Employing an improved service delivery model and provided by trained,
experienced, practitioner consultants, onsite TA services have benefited
many drug court programs. Experience has shown that technical assistance
services not only assist newer drug court programs but have also
proven effective for improving established programs in such areas
as training of new team members, reviews of program practices, and
strategic planning. Mature drug court teams have received training
sessions covering topics such as state-of-the-art substance abuse
treatment practices and the effective use of sanctions and incentives.
Additionally, many drug court programs have experienced positive
outcomes and improved program effectiveness from teambuilding workshops
utilizing a format designed specifically for drug court programs.
The goal in the delivery of all TA services is to assist the drug
court team through a process of identifying program needs, assisting
in the development of positive changes to improve the program's
effectiveness, and providing ongoing support as the team implements
improvements to their drug court.
While priority for onsite technical assistance is given to current
Bureau of Justice Assistance drug court grant recipients, NDCI staff
attempt to meet the needs of all jurisdictions requesting assistance
in improving their drug court programs. For additional information
concerning drug court technical assistance services please contact:
Alec Christoff, Project Director, Phone: (703) 575-9400 ext. 11,
Email: achristoff@ndci.org
Statewide
National Center for State Courts provides statewide technical assistance
services to state administrative offices of courts and state alcohol
and drug agencies, including (1) on-site technical assistance, (2)
off-site technical assistance (i.e., facilitating peer-to-peer consultation
via e-mail and conference calls), and (3) a series of publications
to further integrate drug courts into the mainstream of court operations.
The primary purpose of the statewide technical assistance is to
provide direct aid and information to state agencies that (1) enhance
the leadership of the statewide drug court effort (2) improve coordination
and collaboration among the drug court agencies and (3) increase
the likelihood for the institutionalization of drug courts into
the mainstream of court operations.
As part of its technical assistance services, NCSC developed a series
of four bulletins to document the efforts of the statewide technical
assistance initiative and further integrate drug courts into the
mainstream of court operations. The titles, contents, and the NCSC
web link for each bulletin are:
For additional information, please contact Dawn Marie Rubio, Statewide
Technical Assistance Project Director, at drubio@ncsc.dni.us or
800-466-3063.
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