Marin County Adult Drug Court Program - Project Name: Marin County Adult Drug Court Enhancement
Abstract: The Marin County Adult Drug Court will expand its capacity to provide Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and recovery support services by adding bilingual Spanish-English speaking treatment providers; enhancing trauma-informed and grief/loss treatment; providing low-income clients with material and financial assistance to support their recovery; and increasing the number of beds in recovery housing for clients with specialized needs. The Marin ADC will serve 40 clients annually and 200 clients over the life of the grant project. While the racial-ethnic composition of Marin County is 71% white, 17% Hispanic (any race), 6% Asian, 3% Black, and 3% other races and multiracial, the target population served by the ADC is disproportionately African American, Hispanic, low-income, and unhoused, and an increasing number have DUI charges. The clinical characteristics of the population to be served include adults who are diagnosed with SUD, many of whom have co-occurring mental health conditions, who have committed drug, alcohol, and certain other offenses and demonstrate a need for SUD treatment and other support services. Of clients served by the ADC to date, 56% had stimulants (methamphetamine, cocaine, amphetamine) as their primary drug, 25% had alcohol, and 18% had opiates, with many individuals reporting polysubstance use. The project goals and objectives are to increase the capacity of the ADC to serve Spanish-speaking residents; expand the capacity of the ADC to serve residents with felony DUI charges; improve the engagement of unstably housed and low-income clients in SUD treatment; increase the availability of housing for low-income clients and clients from special populations; and to increase the effectiveness of the ADC program by increasing ADC team member training and conducting a yearly evaluation of the ADC. The strategies and interventions are to contract with a bilingual Spanish-English Assessment Specialist/Psychotherapist and a bilingual Spanish-English Recovery Coach to serve Spanish-speaking clients, to create therapy groups that focus on trauma and grief/loss, to provide additional capacity to treat DUI clients; to provide low-income clients with personal and household necessities, medical supplies, transportation to appointments, and financial assistance to cover the costs of recovery housing; to contract with recovery residences to offer beds to clients with specialized needs (clients with co-occurring disorders, women who are survivors of domestic violence, perinatal women, Spanish-speaking clients, transgender clients, and transitional age youth (18-25 years old)); to provide ADC team members with additional training and attendance at state and national drug court conferences; and to contract with an Evaluator to conduct an annual comprehensive evaluation of the ADC for Continuous Quality Improvement.
