Creating a Sustainability Plan for Your Treatment Court (Part One)

Part One – Treatment Court Sustainability Series

When I was the Senior Director at NADCP’s National Center for DWI Courts, I trained new teams on how to implement DWI Courts, and one of the most common questions I received was: How do we “fund” the court?  Treatment Courts[1]are one of the most effective criminal justice programs that are reducing crime and saving money.  Adult Drug Courts have reduced crime by as much as 35 percent when compared to other alternatives.[2]  When properly run, they are extremely cost effective, saving local communities significant funds.  The research has demonstrated that cost savings range from more than $4,000 to $12,000 per participant.[3]  However, it does take some time to realize the benefits and the upfront costs for Treatment Courts can be a challenge.  Comprehensive treatment, intensive supervision, and regular drug testing are vital components of any treatment court and these features have costs.  What is a court to do?

Well, first and foremost, the question, “How do I fund my court?,” is actually the wrong question.  The real question should be: How can you NOT  afford to have a Treatment Court in your community?  As noted, the cost savings per participant is significant, recidivism is reduced and, even more importantly, lives changed. While these kinds of benefits take time, the more your court can do, the greater the impact in your community.  Courts that have been in existence for years have hundreds and some have thousands of individuals who have changed their ways becoming law-abiding citizens rather than repeat substance-dependent defendants.

Treatment Courts are making healthier individuals and families and creating safer communities.  But long-term sustainability doesn’t just happen–it takes planning and it takes work.  Remember that Treatment Courts are not business as usual and for sustainability you are trying to change your community’s beliefs on what actually works in changing the behavior of a person with substance use disorder. We know our participants have to work hard to create change in their lives.  It will also take hard work by the Treatment Court team to change your community’s beliefs and for it to recognize that this program is a better way of responding.

In this series of articles, I will discuss the importance of creating a long-term plan for sustainability and some of the issues that can arise in ensuring your Treatment Court is in it for the long-term.  

Building Support for Your Treatment Court

There is no question that sustainability is extremely important when developing and maintaining a Treatment Court.  But sustainability is much more than money.  DWI Courts follow the 10 Guiding Principles,[4]and the 10^th Principle states:

10. Ensure a Sustainable Program

The foundation for sustainability is laid, to a considerable degree, by careful and strategic planning. Such planning includes considerations of structure and scale, organization and participation and, of course, funding. Becoming an integral and proven approach to the DWI problem in the community however, is the ultimate key to sustainability.

10^th Guiding Principle for DWI Courts

Sustainability for any Treatment Court includes building community support for the program by demonstrating its effectiveness and beneficial impact to the participants, their families, and the community as a whole.  It all starts with a plan.

A Sustainability Plan

Developing a sustainability plan allows you to:

• Focus your efforts,
• Set realistic goals, and
• Troubleshoot any potential issues.

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Developing a sustainability plan allows you to create strategies on the financial side of the program and determine from where the funding may come.  A thorough plan can help build quality control measures and minimize your risk of failure, thus, ultimately obtaining better results.

With your sustainability plan you can then easily follow your growth and update the plan and the program when needed.  When developing the plan, getting the buy-in by the rest of the team members also demonstrates their commitment to the court.  With your plan, you can include an overall summary of your anticipated efforts, as well as a more detailed roadmap for the next steps.  This plan can also be useful when speaking with community leaders and citizens.  It demonstrates that you are serious about this endeavor and have given it serious consideration.

Developing Your Plan—It’s a Picture Puzzle

In your plan you should lay out the costs to launch the court and operate it and then determine how much funding/resources will you need and where they are coming from.  However, when creating the plan it is important to consider multiple sources of support and finances.  It is extremely rare that one specific source will be sufficient to provide all the necessary resources.  There is no “silver bullet”, so you have to pull together multiple opportunities.  What do your participants need?  Where will you go to obtain that resource?  Your plan must deal with more than treatment, supervision and testing to create a successful court for your participants.

When putting together a picture puzzle you are trying to create a single image with multiple pieces.  It is no different for Treatment Courts.  You are trying to produce independent law-abiding citizens but to do it successfully it will take multiple resources.

Many of the needed resources may not be obvious at first, but that is why it takes a plan to think about their needs and how to support participants while they change their lives.  This means including non-monetary resources in your plan, such as:  the people on your team, their skills, and any community programs that may be useful.  Some of those programs can provide critical resources.[5]

Have a Contingency Plan

Since it is a plan, don’t forget to make contingency plans if the first opportunities don’t occur. I can guarantee that once your plan is set in action, something will happen that will require a revision or for the team to go in a different direction, such as:

• A treatment provider is no longer available in your area;
• Your testing agency has closed up shop;
• The new sheriff is not going to provide deputies for home visits.

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When these events happen, what will you do? Make contingency plans when developing the plan so that everyone is prepared to respond and move forward.  One thing I have been constantly amazed at is the “Can-Do” attitude by Treatment Court teams. There is almost always a way to get around any detour, and Treatment Court teams are some of the best individuals to find the alternate path.  Making contingency plans beforehand can smooth any needed revision.

Building community support (Part II) can also help with the contingency plans.  Community leaders can step up and say that this is an important effort to continue without fear of repercussion.

A Living Document

Once the plan is created and implemented, take the time to review it,  as often as every quarter.  It will not provide any benefit if it is just put on the shelf and forgotten.  Your plan should be a living document that is discussed on a regular basis and then revised when appropriate.  It will provide you long-term guidance with short-term options.

Sustainability Series

In this series of articles on Treatment Court Sustainability, I discuss the importance of creating a long-term plan and some of the issues that can arise in ensuring your Treatment Court is sustainable. This series includes discussion on:

1. A Sustainability Plan (Part I),
2. Promoting your Treatment Court (Part II),
3. Non-Monetary Resources for Treatment Courts (Part III),
4. Show Me the Money (Part IV).

Footnotes:

[1]  In using the term “Treatment Courts,” it is intended to encompass the full gamut of  solution-focused, problem solving courts such as Drug Courts, DWI Courts, Veterans Courts, Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Family Courts, Mental Health Courts, and Juvenile Courts.

[2]  The Facts on Drugs and Crime in America, National Association of Drug Court Professionals

[3]   Id. Facts on Drugs and Crime in America.

[4]  The 10 Guiding Principles, National Center for DWI Courts, obtained from: https://www.dwicourts.org/wp-content/uploads/Guiding_Principles_of_DWI_Court_0.pdf

[5]There will be a further discussion of these options in Part Three of this series.