ASAP of Anderson partners with Anderson County Juvenile Court, School Systems, and multiple funders to open first Family Drug Treatment Court in the county.
Anderson County, TN, July 2018 – The effects of substance misuse are far reaching and cause stress on individuals, families and the entire community. This is especially true when adolescents are involved. There has been a lack of treatment support for adolescents entering the judicial system with substance misuse issues in Anderson County. Until now.
The Anderson County Family Drug Treatment Court, the first of its kind in the county, which will be called R2: The Recovery and Resilience Program, launched today, July 1, 2018. The mission of R2 is to empower participants to achieve a sustainable, substance-free, healthy lifestyle and to develop responsible citizenship through prevention, treatment, education, and coordination of services. This program has been a priority for a large number of stakeholders in the community for many years. ASAP of Anderson along with Juvenile Court, Anderson County Schools, and Oak Ridge Schools have worked tirelessly to see this program come to fruition.
R2 is a program for juvenile offenders who have substance misuse issues and have not been successful in maintaining drug abstinence. The program is a minimum of nine months and will incorporate treatment, family therapy, and group therapy paired with accountability and goal setting.
“By addressing barriers in the home, we will enable adolescents in Anderson County to break free from the grip of generational drug misuse, setting them up to be successful contributors to our society,” said Juvenile Court Judge Brian Hunt.
Funding for the program comes from United Way of Anderson County, City of Rocky Top, Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary, ASAP of Anderson, Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs, and community members who donated to the “Camping for Community” campaign in October. Successful drug treatment courts in other areas have shown a significant return on investment for their areas. The Anderson County program has the potential to rehabilitate offenders, reduce truancy, reduce subsequent legal charges, improve school performance and education attainment, improve employability, and reduce the cost to the county as a result of a lesser strain on the judicial system.
Join us for a Ribbon Cutting on July 11th from 3:00 – 4:30 pm to celebrate the launch of R2 at Juvenile Court on the first floor of the Robert Jolly Building, 101 S Main St, Clinton, TN 37716.
