The National Drug Court Institute (NDCI) presents this guest-edited special issue of the Drug Court Review, which reports recent findings from the National Cross-Site Evaluation of Juvenile Drug Courts and Reclaiming Futures (JDC/RF National Evaluation).
The JDC/RF National Evaluation examined ways to improve outcomes in juvenile drug courts by improving collaboration between the juvenile justice, treatment, educational, and child welfare systems; increasing youth access to evidence-based substance-use disorder and mental health treatment; improving the quality and cultural proficiency of the services delivered; and sustaining youth involvement in continuing care services following discharge from court supervision. In reporting the results of the JDC/RF National Evaluation, this special issue of the Drug Court Review presents five articles. One article provides an overview of the JDC and RF models; a second article examines the process of integrating the two models; a third article describes the client characteristics of those served in the JDC/RF model; a fourth aricle presents an analysis that establishes the critical components of the JDC/RF model; and the fifth article discusses the importance of community engagement. In addition, this special issue includes two commentaries. One reflects on policy and program implications of the research findings of the JDC/RF National Evaluation; and the second discusses how the research findings can guide the future of Federal, State, and local efforts in the juvenile court system in responding to and treating youth with substance use and addiction issues. The latter commentary discusses three issues: 1) why it is important to have a specialized court that focuses on substance-abusing youth; 2) who should be served by juvenile drug courts; and 3) how court and treatment systems should operate to best serve youth assigned to juvenile drug courts.