Enhancement of the mountain judicial circuit accountability courts through a family-centered and whole-person treatment approach - the proposed project is submitted by habersham county on behalf of…

Enhancement of the mountain judicial circuit accountability courts through a family-centered and whole-person treatment approach - the proposed project is submitted by habersham county on behalf of the mountain judicial circuit accountability courts (mjcac). The purpose is expanding evidence-based treatment services targeting vulnerable populations in the rural northeast georgia mountains. Mjcac anticipates serving a total of 417 participants over the duration of the project, with an emphasis on expansion and enhancement services in family treatment court. Mjcac consists of 5 treatment court programs: habersham drug court, stephens drug court, rabun drug court, family treatment court, and mental health/CO-occurring court. Program length is 18-36 months with average participation length of 24 months. All 5 programs serve participants who are assessed to have moderate to severe substance use disorders or CO-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. We will target those with CO-occurring disorders living in the most economically-distressed rural areas with limited or no access to behavioral health treatment, transportation, and other recovery support services. A major funding focus of samhsa funds will be to extend funds and enhance the project started in 2020 with federal BJA funds. Our program is unable to sustain this project without federal funds. Samhsa funds requested are $1,954,013 for a 5 year period, which will account for approximately 25% of the total annual program budget. Mjcac funding will also leverage grant-funded services through community partners with multiple upcoming opportunities to sustain a strategic and collaborative response to behavioral health disparities within our community. In developing a whole-person treatment approach, this project will focus on addressing behavioral health disparities by providing equitable services including recovery support services, substance use and health screening, clinical assessments, emergency housing and transportation assistance, psychological evaluations, family-focused interventions, and trauma-informed treatment interventions. Through the implementation of celebrating families!, mjcac will enhance the lives of 150 families affected by substance use. With technological innovations like zoom and reconnect, this project will enhance accessibility to participants and reduce disparities by facilitating communication between the participants and the project staff. The project director will be responsible for developing a plan to provide transitional housing services and continuing to improve the advisory board, which will solicit donations from the community and civic organizations in the future. The rabun case manager will focus on expanding program capacity and services available to the most impoverished and rural county in our circuit. Other key staff are funded through state funds, and these individuals will assist in carrying out this project to all mjcac participants. Amounts found in the project budget have been estimated based on recent trends in our program that justify need and quotations from service providers. No more than 15% of the samhsa funds are budgeted for infrastructure, and no more than 10% is budgeted for data collection. Mjcac adheres to best practices and evidence-based interventions outlined in the national association of drug court professionals key components, as evidenced by state certification in 2022 and peer review provided by the national drug court institute in 2022. We will RE-apply for and maintain program certification every even year during this project.