The douglas county chance court, juvenile drug treatment court program seeks to enhance substance use treatment opportunities and increase meaningful youth and family partnerships

The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded a $730,000 Project Grant under the Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program (CFDA 16.585) to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners in Douglasville, Georgia. The grant will fund the Douglas County Chance Court, a Juvenile Drug Treatment Court program, over a 4-year period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2028. The program aims to: (1) reduce the stigma around substance use and mental health disorders affecting youth and families, (2) increase equal access to services, (3) improve retention through alignment with juvenile drug treatment court guidelines, and (4) enhance youth and family partnership by incorporating their strengths, needs, and voices into the program. The grant will enable the Douglas County Board of Commissioners to enhance substance use treatment opportunities and increase meaningful youth and family engagement within the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court program.

The chance court aims to achieve the following goals: (1) eliminate or reduce the stigma surrounding how substance use and CO-occurring mental health disorders affect youth and their families, (2) increase equal access to the chance court program by removing barriers to accessing services, (3) improve retention in the program through increased responsiveness to the juvenile drug treatment court guidelines, and (4) improve youth and family partnership at all levels of the program by developing strategies that are centered on their strengths and needs and incorporate their voices in the process.