AWARD RECIPIENT:

Passaic Vicinage Family Division

Paterson, NJ

AWARD AMOUNT:

$423,795*

PURPOSE: The Passaic County Juvenile Drug Court will use grant funds to implement a post-adjudication drug court for nonviolent, juvenile offenders ages 14 to 16 who have a demonstrated level of alcohol and/or drug abuse. The drug court will serve 50 juveniles and family members per year. The principal goals of the program are to: develop strength-based treatment services; reduce juveniles' substance abuse; strengthen families; and improve educational attendance and performance. The program provides substance abuse treatment, access to psychiatric and other health care services, parenting programs, and other community and family services. The grantee will coordinate this effort with the following agencies: the New Jersey State Judiciary, the Passaic Vicinage Family Division, the Passaic County Youth Services Commission, the Police Athletic League, and the public school system. The drug court will implement the juvenile drug court software system, which was developed by the Buffalo, NY drug court and is available for use by other drug court programs. The software will be connected to the Internet and the family court's automated case tracking system and drug court participating agencies will have access to the information. The grantee will also conduct process and outcome evaluations. The process evaluation will analyze the operational components of the drug court program and will be closely linked to the management information system. The outcome evaluation will include a 1-year and a 2-year comparison of recidivism rates and drug and alcohol statistics between drug court participants and the control group, and will measure success among drug court participants.

LOCAL CONTACT:

Cindy Thomson
Passaic Vicinage Family Division
401 Grant Street
Paterson, NJ 07505
973/247-8469

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS CONTACT:

Linda Mansour
202/616-3534

* This is a tentative award amount pending final budget review.