Free Training for Juvenile Drug Courts in Teen Treatment Protocol

The National Drug Court Institute (NDCI), in collaboration with The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is offering free training to juvenile drug court staff in a brief, evidence-based intervention for adolescents abusing drugs and alcohol, Reclaiming Futures reported Jan. 20.

The goal of the training is to help courts “implement Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (BIRT) combined with Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT 5).”

Once trained and certified, courts may offer participating teens two one-on-one sessions intended to improve engagement, and three weekly group sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy.

While the training is intended primarily for clinicians working with youth in juvenile drug courts, NDCI encouraged other drug court team members to attend as well, in part so they can learn how to increase teen engagement. 

Although juvenile drug courts funded by OJJDP are specifically eligible for the training, NDCI said that “other juvenile drug courts” can also qualify. 

To receive the training, courts must agree to go through the certification process.

For more information, email Austine Long or call her at 1-877-507-3229, ext. 30.

(Full disclosure: The author of this summary, Benjamin Chambers, also wrote the Reclaiming Futures blog post on which this is based.)