Montgomery County’s new family treatment court has been awarded a $600,000 federal grant.
The court, presided over by the Judge Anthony Capizzi, was one of three nationwide to receive grants from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
“The reality is, we did it because there’s a need,” Capizzi said Tuesday as he joined the Montgomery County Department of Job & Family Services in announcing the grant.
The three-year grant from (OJJDP) will help fund the court’s work in setting up a new specialized docket for a Family Treatment Court.
The court is expected to improve the safety and well-being of children by providing their parents access to drug and alcohol treatment, judicial monitoring of their sobriety and individualized services to support the entire family.
Substance abuse, particularly involving heroin, is a growing problem in Ohio.
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“We see children that have no supervision because parents have nodded off or are simply not present while seeking their next high,” Jewel Good, assistant director of the children services division of Montgomery County Job & Family Services.
Parents will have to qualify for the program and meet guidelines for recovery and relapse prevention, conflict resolution and parenting.
Officials said Montgomery County has seen a 132 percent increase from 2009 to 2013 in child-welfare cases where opiates were noted as the reason for court action.
The State of Ohio spends about $45 million each year on placement of children in cases in the juvenie court system due to parental use of drugs.
Nationally, in cases involving family treatment courts, families are reunited 20-40 percent more often, while treatment completion rates are 20-30 percent higher.
Research also shows children in family treatment court cases spend less time outside their homes or in foster care.
“If we can keep them in the home, it’s a lot easier,” Capizzi said.
WHIO TV Reporter Mike Campbell contributed to this report.
