Drug Court FAQ - Dauphin County Criminal Justice Portal

DC Drug Court FAQ 11/14/2011
How does the Drug Court Process begin?
The Drug Court Assessment Process is designed to take place on the front end of will
utilize a “fast track” system with a goal of moving an eligible defendant through the
system within thirty (30) days. Often, these types of defendants have a high risk and
high need and do not have the financial resources to make bail. This program would
give us means to deal with their need, control the risk of the community and move them
out of the county prison system at a much faster rate.
An offender wishing to participate in the Dauphin County Drug Court should, through his
or her attorney, complete a “Drug Court Referral Form”, then submit it as detailed on the
form. The form is available for online completion and printing in .pdf format, or may be
downloaded for completion at a later time. It is important to understand that completing
the form on-line is for convenience only, and does not submit the form; the referral form
must be either mailed or faxed.
What happens after I send in my referral form?
The Drug Court Team Case Manager will schedule an evaluation with the referral to
identify his/her treatment needs. The Drug Court Team caseworker will utilize accepted
assessment tools in determining and making their clinical assessments. These tools
are well known in the field and include the Bio-Psych-Social and Pennsylvania Client
Placement Criteria (PCPC) in addition to other clinical tools. The caseworker will
provide the following to the Drug Court Team:
Provide information for and completion of any indicated report to the Drug Court
Team.
Make appropriate offenders referrals to contracted providers
Assist offenders with ancillary services to augment psychotherapy
Input all data into the computer system
Arrange any indicated aftercare services upon completion of residential
treatment. Provide information for and completion of any indicated report to the
Drug Court Team.
The Drug Court Team meets once a week to review the cases of any new referrals. In
addition to the offender’s current case, the Drug Court Team reviews the criminal history
of the offender, the evaluation results from the Drug Court Team Case Manager and
hears any other information Drug Court Team members may have related to the case.
After review of all information available, the Drug Court Team votes whether an
applicant is accepted into the program. An applicant needs a majority vote in order to
be accepted to the program.
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