The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Reno Family Drug Court program has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of: Substance Abuse Treatment (Adult), but lacks the necessary research evidence to be given a Scientific Rating.

• Type of Maltreatment: Physical Neglect
• Target Population: Parents whose children have been placed within the child welfare system, due to child abuse and/or neglect related to substance abuse.

The Reno Family Drug Court created in 1994, was the first family drug court in the United States. Through a collaborative effort, the Reno Family Drug Court seeks to ensure children have a safe and nurturing environment by focusing on both healthy and sober parenting and permanency planning through family reunification.

The Reno Family Drug Court deals primarily with poly-substance abuse issues and works with a high percentage of co-occurring disorders that are mental health related.

• Alcohol and other drug treatment services integrated with justice system case processing.
• The prosecution and defense council promote public safety while protecting parent's due process rights by using a non-adversarial approach.
• The parent is provided access to a continuum of alcohol, drug, and other related treatment and rehabilitation services.
• Abstinence is monitored by conducting random alcohol or drug tests twice a week.
• The parent attends both the substance abuse treatment program and the child welfare case plan appointments. The parent also appears before the Family Drug Court Judge every other week. Bi-monthly written reports are provided to the Court for each participant.
• The Family Drug Court has two provider agencies that provide a continuum of inpatient and outpatient services. Treatment is individualized, which may include individual and group counseling, parenting education, vocational rehabilitation, assistance with job searches, and housing. The Court often orders mental health assessments and evaluations for the children and monitors the children's progress with treatment.
• Partnerships among Family Drug Courts, public agencies, and community-based organizations enhance the Family Drug Court program effectiveness.

Reno Family Drug Court was designed with a child component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Mental health issues.

Age range: 0 – 18

Developmental Delays:

This program was not developed for children with developmental delays, and has not been tested for children with developmental delays.

Reno Family Drug Court was designed with a parent/caregiver component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Parental substance abuse and co-occurring mental health issues.

Reno Family Drug Court was not designed to be conducted in a group setting, and has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended Intensity:

Parents meet with the family court judge two times per month.

Recommended Duration:

The court session generally lasts 2 to 2½ hours. The minimum duration of the program is one year.

Not Specified

Reno Family Drug Court includes a homework component:

Homework is assigned on a case-by-case basis, usually as a sanction for relapse or lack of compliance with treatment.

Reno Family Drug Court does not have materials available in a language other than English.

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

• A room to hold the multi-disciplinary staffing session prior to court.

There are a variety of treatment professionals and social workers involved in the program, both at the Bachelor's and Master's levels. Interns are also utilized. The program Judge is assigned by the presiding Judge based on experience and interest.

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
  www.ncjfcj.org

Training is obtained:

The training is typically provided in a host city or Reno, with visits to the Reno program for observation and meetings with the Reno program team.

Number of days/hours:

Training is periodically available in different lengths of time depending upon available funding.

This program has been reviewed and it was determined that this program lacks the type of published, peer-reviewed research that meets the CEBC criteria for a scientific rating of 1 – 5. Therefore, the program has been given the classification of "NR - Not able to be Rated." It was reviewed because it was identified by the topic expert as a program being used in the field, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers. Some programs that are not rated may have published, peer-reviewed research that does not meet the above stated criteria or may have eligible studies that have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. For more information on the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification, please see the Scientific Rating Scale.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Not Specified

Currently, there are no published, peer-reviewed research studies for Reno Family Drug Court.

No reference materials are currently available for Reno Family Drug Court.