Pasco Adult Drug Court Expansion and Enhancement - PROJECT ABSTRACT
The lead applicant, Pasco County government, on behalf of, and in collaboration with, the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida, is requesting Treatment Drug Courts funding from SAMHSA in response to FOA No. TI-20-003, to increase the number of drug-involved offenders (adults) participating in the Pasco County Adult Drug Court (PADC) over five years (2020-2025). The proposed Pasco ADC Expansion Project focuses on drug-involved offenders residing in Pasco County (adults 18+) that meet American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria for outpatient substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria for SUD. The expansion will also prioritize voluntary admissions of drug-involved offenders who are negatively affected by trauma-related symptoms, and may also be experiencing co-occurring disorders (COD). Furthermore, in alignment with the goals of the local Opioid Task Force and the Florida Department of Health, the drug court expansion also emphasizes the recruitment of individuals using opioids, methamphetamines and at-risk of overdose. The primary goal of the proposed project is to expand services in the existing PADC to offer more drug-involved offenders (adults) in Pasco County a treatment drug court model and community-based SUD treatment and recovery support services (RSS). The PADC will reduce recidivism and SUDs among the population of focus and increase the possibility of successful habilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, and use of appropriate sanctions and other habilitation services. Over the life of the grant (2020-2025), the PADC will serve 245 more unduplicated drug-involved offenders in Pasco County. In the shortened first and fifth years of the project, the PADC will serve 40 unduplicated participants annually; and 50 unduplicated participants in the second, third and fourth years of the project. In alignment with guidance from SAMHSA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the NADCP, the treatment provider, WestCare GulfCoast-Florida, Inc., will incorporate evidence-based programs and practices within the delivery of comprehensive SUD treatment services, including: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), Relapse Prevention (RP), The Matrix Model, Seeking Safety and Thinking for a Change. The project partners have the ability to offer Medication-assisted treatment (MAT and recovery housing to PADC participants when appropriate and at no cost to SAMHSA. The PADC maintains fidelity to the ten key components established by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) as described in the publication, Defining Drug Courts: The Key Components. Also, the PADC utilizes many of the NADCP’s Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards.