Center Court
- Vol. 6, No. 2 - Spring 2003
NCSC, AJA Help Courts
Confront Substance Abuse
The
National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the American Judges
Association (AJA) have developed a new curriculum to help judges confront
issues raised by substance abuse—“Judicial Education on Substance
Abuse: Promoting and Expanding Judicial Awareness and Leadership.”
This curriculum, which is an introductory session for judges who handle
all case types, explores the nature of alcohol and other drug abuse, as
well as the dynamics of recovery.
Three
stand-alone modules increase judicial awareness of the challenges
substance abuse poses to the courts, individuals, and communities; provide
a basic overview of addiction, pharmacology, and recovery principles; and
explore strategies and tools judges can use from the bench to respond more
effectively to substance abuse. They also encourage judges in all
types of courts to share information and work with experts in other
disciplines to develop new approaches to address the challenges posed by
substance abuse.
The
National Judicial College recently used it as a “model curriculum” in
a “train-the-trainer” conference for judges from various courts across
the country.
“Judicial
Education on Substance Abuse” was developed with funding from the State
Justice Institute. It is available online at www.ncsconline.org—click
on “Research,” then “Publications,” and scroll down the
alphabetical list. For more information, contact Denise Dancy at
NCSC by phone at (757) 259-1593 or by e-mail at ddancy@ncsc.dni.us.
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