Drug Court Expands Thanks To Large Grant

It's amazing to say this at this time, but we just heard GOOD NEWS from Washington.

Yesterday, at the annual Talbert House lunch, I had the privilege of announcing that our County just received a $900,000, 3-year federal grant to expand our drug court. Drug court is a model program that allows us to divert into a rigorous treatment program those non-violent offenders whose primary problem is a drug addiction. Having been to a number of drug court "graduations," let me tell you that this approach truly changes lives, one at a time.

This grant will expand the capacity of the drug court by 200 additional persons a year.

Needless to say, this is big news. One of the Criminal Justice Commission's major recommendations is to expand the drug court's capacity, and this grant will allow us to do just that. This type of approach also helps us reduce recidivism, and alleviates even further our jail overcrowding problem. (200 people per year is a huge number, and translates into real savings versus the cost of incarcerating that number of people.)

Thanks to all those organizations that worked hard to secure this important grant.