Drug Court Clearinghouse
Adult
Statewide

Drug Court Clearinghouse

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (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 of 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 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 BJA 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: Austine Long, Project Director, Phone: (703) 575-9400 ext. 30, Email: along@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:

• Assessing the Statewide Needs of Drug Courts, October 2003—Focused on the results of the Needs Assessment Survey.

• Developing Statewide Performance Measures for Drug Courts, October 2004—Discussed the value of statewide standards, the process that results in their development, and possible "next steps" to evaluate drug courts once these measures are in place. The narrative is based on the experiences of the NCSC staff and consultants who have participated in the development of these standards in the various technical assistance projects.

• Information Collection, Storage, and Use for Drug Courts: Developing a Statewide System, February 2005—Discussed and makes recommendations for good IT practices regarding the development of statewide drug court case management systems.

• Crafting A Plan: Sustaining Indiana's Drug Courts, March 2005—Described the process of developing a systematic and strategic funding plan to sustain Indiana's drug courts.

For additional information, please contact Dawn Marie Rubio, Statewide Technical Assistance Project Director, at drubio@ncsc.dni.us or 800-466-3063.