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Therapeutic Courts in the Alaska Court System

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Therapeutic Courts in the Alaska Court System Therapeutic Courts in the Alaska Court System Item Type Article Authors Armstrong, Barbara Citation Armstrong, Barbara. (2016). "Therapeutic Courts in the Alaska Court System." Alaska Justice Forum 33(2–3): 2–6 (Summer/Fall 2016). Publisher Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage Download date 29/09/2021 22:52:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7339 2 Alaska Justice Forum 33(2–3), Summer/Fall 2016 Therapeutic Courts in the Alaska Court System Barbara Armstrong The Rise and Expansion of peutic court programs last 12 to 24 months. Therapeutic courts—often called “prob- Therapeutic Courts The therapeutic court process involves a lem-solving courts” or “wellness courts”— team of individuals including the offender, have been a growing component of the U.S. Therapeutic courts began in 1989 with the judge, the prosecutor, defense counsel, court system since the 1990s. The National the Miami Drug Court, according to a 2010 and court administrative personnel—and Drug Court Institute (NDCI) reported that Center for Court Innovation study, and since possibly an outside agency related to the of- in 2014 there were 4,368 problem-solving then drug courts have grown rapidly in a fender’s status or underlying problem (such courts in the nation. Figure 1 shows the dra- number of jurisdictions across the nation as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs matic increase in the number of drug courts (Figure 1). The drug court model soon led for veterans courts)—as well as a treatment from 1989 to 2014. Therapeutic courts differ to the creation of courts dealing with alcohol provider representative. from traditional courts in their holistic ap- issues, most often DUI (driving under the This holistic approach, using a collabora- proach to offenders and to the underlying influence of drugs or alcohol) offenses. Drug tive strategy developed by justice system issues which bring these individuals into and alcohol treatment is a critical part of representatives and treatment service pro- the justice system—most notably substance the therapeutic court model and most thera- viders, results in what the Center for Court abuse and mental health. The Alaska Court System (ACS) currently operates 12 thera- Figure 1. Number of Drug Courts by Year in the United States, 1989–2014 peutic courts statewide (Table 1) and is con- 3,500 sidering additional pilot project courts. The latest additions to the roster of therapeutic 3,000 courts are a dual-jurisdiction state-tribal 2,500 wellness court—the Kenai Henu’ Commu- 2,000 nity Wellness Court—with cases presided 1,500 over by both a state judge and a judge of 1,000 the Kenaitze Tribal Court, and a drug- and 500 alcohol-related felony wellness court in 0 Palmer. This article provides a brief over- view of the development of ACS therapeutic courts, including a description of therapeutic Source of data: National Drug Court Institute, "Painting the Current Picture: A National Report on Drug Courts and Other Problem-Solving Courts in the United States" (2016), Table 3 (http://www.nadcp.org/sites/ courts currently in existence in our state, as default/files/2014/Painting%20the%20Current%20Picture%202016.pdf). well as proposed pilot project courts. Table 1. Therapeutic Courts in the Alaska Court System Type of case referred Date Misde- Court Eligible offenders established Capacity Felony meanor Anchorage Child in Need of Aid (CINA) Parents or custodians aged 18 or over of children; individuals who are 2014 20 —— Therapeutic Court in need of recovery services Anchorage Coordinated Resources Project Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority beneficiaries charged with 1998 75 XX (Mental Health Court) criminal offenses Anchorage Municipal Wellness Court Charged with DUI or refusal or other alcohol-related charge 1999 30 X Anchorage Wellness Court — Felony Drug Court Felony drug or drug-related offenses 2001 20 X Anchorage Wellness Court — Felony DUI Court Felony DUI or felony refusal 2001 40 X Anchorage Veterans Court Veterans with misdemeanor or felony alcohol- or drug-related offenses 2004 25 XX Felony or misdemeanor crime directly related to offender substance Bethel Therapeutic Court 2002 20 XX abuse; or violation of probation due to substance abuse Fairbanks Wellness Court Felony DUI 2007 30 X Juneau Coordinated Resources Project Misdemeanor or felony charge; currently diagnosed with a mental 2012 15 XX (Mental Health Court) illness or qualifying for mental health services Juneau Therapeutic Court Felony alcohol- or drug-related offenses 2005 15 XX Kenai Henu' Community Wellness Court People convicted of drug- and alcohol-releated misdemeanor and 2016 20 XX (State-Tribal Wellness Court) felony offenses Charged with multiple misdemeanors, a felony DUI, or felony refusal; Ketchikan Therapeutic Court 2005 12 XX or on probabion for felony DUI or felony refusal Charged with misdemeanor or low-level felony and diagnosed with a Palmer Coordinated Resources Project mental disability; Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority beneficiary; 2005 25 XX (Mental Health Court) Mat-Su resident Source of data: Alaska Court System. See also "Therapeutic Court Information," http://www.courts.alaska.gov/therapeutic/index.htm Alaska Justice Forum 33(2–3), Summer/Fall 2016 3 Innovation describes as “individualized the court, ensure offender accountability, Hornby Zeller Associates on the Anchor- justice” for the offender. Other common and focus on positive outcomes for the age and Palmer mental health courts, and a elements of the therapeutic court process, in individual and the community. 2008 Urban Institute Justice Policy Center addition to treatment for factors contribut- report on the Anchorage Wellness Court. Effectiveness of Problem-Solving Courts ing to criminal behavior, include offender Both reports noted the positive impact of accountability, community engagement, The 2016 report by the National Drug these courts, including decreased involve- staff training, data collection for each case, Court Institute (NDCI) provides a brief sum- ment by program graduates in the criminal improved safety for victims and the public, mary of research on problem-solving courts, justice system. and an overall focus on positive outcomes and discusses the many meta-analyses that Therapeutic courts in the Alaska Court for the offender and the community. have been conducted. The majority of System are also part of the research cur- Therapeutic courts have expanded to research has been done on drug courts, a rently being done by the Alaska Justice deal with a variety of issues (both criminal category of problem-solving court that has Information Center (AJiC) for the Results and civil) and types of offenders. A Bureau been in existence the longest. There is con- First Initiative. This initiative examines of Justice Statistics (BJS) 2012 census of sensus that adult drug courts, DUI courts, evidence-based programs, like therapeutic problem-solving courts in the U.S. outlined family drug courts, and mental health courts courts, that potentially impact recidivism, the following categories of courts: “improve justice system outcomes and can and then generates additional information return net financial benefits to taxpayers.” on benefits and costs to help guide policy ● drug courts work with offenders with Because the majority of research has focused decisions and resource allocation. an underlying drug abuse problem; on drug courts, additional work is needed to ● mental health courts work with Alaska Court System determine the effectiveness of other types of offenders who have a mental illness Therapeutic Courts courts. The NDCI also suggests that further or developmental disability; research is needed to understand why and The first Alaska Court System “wellness ● family courts address issues with how therapeutic courts result in positive out- court” was established in Anchorage in 1999 parents and children such as custody comes, and to discover ways to improve the to deal with misdemeanor DUI offenders. In- —parental substance abuse may be a effectiveness of these programs. Research dividuals were screened for eligibility for the factor—or may deal with other family has also shown that the number of thera- 18-month program and voluntarily agreed to issues such as domestic violence; peutic courts will likely continue to grow, ● domestic violence courts focus on and will be able to operate more effectively Please see Therapeutic courts, page 4 offenders and treatment and assisting with more data identifying the key aspects victims with safety needs; of successful programs. ● tribal wellness courts deal with Most of the above studies have focused substance abuse and other issues Alaska on the numerous problem-solving courts in through partnerships between state the Lower 48. However, several studies of Justice courts and American Indian/Alaska Alaska problem-solving courts have been Native tribal courts; Forum undertaken by the Alaska Judicial Council ● veterans courts concentrate on (Council) since 2000, shortly after the incep- Editor: Barbara Armstrong this specific population and the tion of therapeutic courts in the state. The Editorial Board: Allan Barnes, Lindsey surrounding issues which bring results published in these studies have been Blumenstein, Jason Brandeis, Sharon veterans into the justice system, such Chamard, Ron Everett, Ryan Fortson, Kristin positive and indicate that successful gradu- as substance abuse and homelessness; Knudsen, Cory R. Lepage, Brad Myrstol, ates of the programs in problem-solving ● youth specialty courts focus
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