Approval for Juvenile Drug Court Program

With an increase in juveniles abusing controlled substances in Albany County over recent years, the Albany County Community Juvenile Services Board has been granted approval to prepare a development and implementation plan to create a juvenile drug treatment court.

This new treatment court will mirror the guidelines the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has created – specifically promoting effective practice for juveniles with substance abuse disorders who are at medium to high risk of reoffending.

This treatment includes establishing a team approach and intensive monitoring by probation officers, substance use treatment professionals, judges and communities that will help develop a more individualized plan for each juvenile.

County attorney, Peggy Trent, wrote in an email that, “the County has seen an increase in juvenile court filings of abuse/neglect cases involving methamphetamine, heroine and LSD in the homes of juveniles.”

Trent went on to write that, “From 2015 to the present, the County has seen an increase from 28 percent of filings to 66 percent of the filings to the present, 2018 with 67 percent of the filings.  During this same period, the County has seen a similar increase in juvenile delinquency cases involving marijuana usage by juveniles which are handled through the County’s diversion program or juvenile court.”

Though the specific numbers weren’t readily available, Trent does believe the data to be similar.

Due to this plan having been passed a little over a month ago, there is still much to be developed. This development and implementation plan for the treatment will fall to the Albany County Community Juvenile Services Board.

Though the list of jobs the board has been tasked with is extensive, a few of those include, identify program goals, development program management and monitoring capacity, develop a plan for program evaluation and delineate the key roles and responsibilities for the drug court team.