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Ohio Using Grants To Expand Family Drug Courts
< < Back toOhio is using a federal grant to help expand families' access to drug courts to address the impact of the state's addiction epidemic.
At issue is state human services data that says more than 42 percent of parents who get involved with Ohio's child protective services have substance abuse issues.
Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor of the Ohio Supreme Court says the state will use the grant to identify barriers that limit families' ability to use the help that drug courts provide.
The two-year, $309,000 grant began earlier this year and is being coordinated by the Supreme Court and the state's mental health and addiction services and human services agencies.
There are currently 16 family drug courts in Ohio certified by the Supreme Court. They are based on the drug court specialized docket concept that focuses on treatment and rehabilitation, and the parent’s substance abuse is addressed as the root cause contributing to the dependency, neglect, or abuse in the family.
Ohio is one of five states to receive a Family Drug Court Statewide System Reform Program grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).