The Richmond Adult Drug Treatment Court (RADTC) Program - The Richmond Adult Drug Treatment Court (RADTC) requests funding to enhance and expand currently available services and supports to people with substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. Proposed strategies and interventions include comprehensive clinical supervision by a licensed clinician, increased counseling, psychiatric evaluation and medication monitoring, primary care services, and recovery housing to meet the participants’ unique needs. RADTC will also secure additional staff training of participating staff and partners to build knowledge, increase awareness, and improve the effectiveness of the RADTC. The RADTC and its existing partners - the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority and Family Counseling Center for Recovery - will ensure a successful implementation of the proposed services. The RADTC will serve 175 participants over the five-year grant period. An estimated 40 males and females will be served in Year 1, with 34 new participants per year in Years 2 through 5.
RADTC participant demographics include: Ages from 18-65; 75% male; 24% female; 1% transgender; 12% White; and 88% African-American. It is estimated that 2% identify as gay or lesbian. Reported drugs of choice are: 85% cocaine/crack cocaine; 14% heroin; and 4% alcohol. Eighty percent are diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health (MH) disorder. Common MH disorders include: Anxiety, depression, bipolar and schizophrenia. Participants average nine prior non-violent felony convictions, lengthy prior incarcerations, and substance use histories of 20 plus years. Most are economically dependent on others, have limited education, limited or nonexistent employment histories, and medical problems including hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Most were born and raised in urban neighborhoods characterized by multi-generational addiction, poverty, violence and trauma. Partly due to these factors, 52% of RADTC participants complete the program, and 64% recidivate. Further, seven out of ten referrals are found ineligible to participate, upon assessment, due to either having barrier crimes that prohibit participation, or having a mental health problem exceeding current staff’s capability to treat. Primary reasons for premature RADTC termination are lack of employment, lack of housing and program non-compliance.
The overall goal of the proposed project is to enhance currently delivered RADTC services to improve participants’ recovery outcomes. Objectives include: 1) Increase the effectiveness of the program for people with co-occurring disorders by providing clinical, medical and recovery supports beginning within one week of acceptance until graduation; 2) Decrease rate of recidivism to 50% and increase rate of graduation to 60%; 3) Increase the amount of professional staff/partner training by attending at least 4 training opportunities per year; and 4) evaluate the effectiveness of the project in achieving these objectives, including adherence to the grant requirements, by developing bi-annual reports and holding quarterly project meetings.
