December 2018
Staying Sober During the Holidays
The holiday season can be hard for those in recovery because invitations to alcohol-filled social events increase, alcohol is promoted in advertisements as part of ‘celebrating’ the season, and family members may not be mindful of the challenges of sobriety as they gather together. This month, Impaired Driving Prevention Month, it is especially important for treatment court teams to support and express empathy for participants. Make sure case managers, therapists, and mentors have plans to meet or check-in with their participants throughout the holidays and help their participants develop an action plan for maintaining sobriety in the face of increased pressure. From the bench, judges can also validate that this is a particular challenging time for sobriety, offer encouragement, and ask about action plans. For more ideas about how to stay sober over the holidays, click here . 
Are You Prepared?
Coming soon! To help you prepare for the Bureau of Justice Assistance ’ s (BJA) FY2019 open grant solicitations , NDCRC will host a webinar with Gregory Torain, BJA policy advisor, in early 2019. The webinar will review the application process, administration priorities, and highlight key elements of the application.

In order to get a head start, check out our grant solicitation resources and ensure you are following evidence-based practices and operating with fidelity to the treatment court model.   
How to Evaluate Your Treatment Provider
It is difficult for us non-clinicians to fully understand the elements, modalities, and intersections of substance and mental health treatment. This lack of understanding presents a real challenge when we attempt to assess the quality of services of our contracted treatment agencies or when we select to contract with a new agency. The National Drug Court Institute has a guide designed to help drug treatment court teams formulate a request for proposals for new agency contracts, but it can be easily adapted to help you assess your current treatment providers. 
News from Children and Family Futures
Whether you are hoping to enhance your well-established collaborative or interested in implementing a new family treatment court (FTC), connecting with the eight nationally recognized Peer Learning Courts can be a great next step for you and your team! Peer Learning Courts were selected through a rigorous application process and serve as mentors for other courts by providing sample materials, participating in information sharing over conference calls, and demonstrating FTC operations by hosting visitors! Need advice on starting an alumni group or maximizing the impact of your peer recovery support specialists? The Peer Learning Courts can help with these questions and much more! Learn more about these diverse and representative FTCs who are eager and ready to answer your questions. The Peer Learning Court Program is one of the many services available through the National Family Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Program . Learn more about the Peer Learning Court Program and view their profiles at https://www.cffutures.org/plc/.
News from the Center for Court Innovation
With the support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Center for Court Innovation is offering hands-on planning and implementation support for the founding of community courts in up to five jurisdictions in 2019. Community courts are neighborhood-focused court programs that combine the power of the community and the justice system to address local problems. Local and state criminal justice agencies that wish to be considered should indicate their interest by January 15, 2019 here:  https://www.courtinnovation.org/community-court-application .
Upcoming Events
The National Drug Court Resource, Policy, and Evidence-Based Practice Center ’s mission is to equip the drug court field with open access to a wide variety of resources and research, helping treatment courts run more effectively.
The  National Drug Court Resource, Policy, and Evidence-Based Practice Center is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and operated by the Justice Programs Office (JPO) at American University. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse the content of this newsletter

Please email  ndcrc@american.edu  with any inquiries. 
 
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