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By rdnewsNOW Staff

Open House: Nov. 15

Central Alberta Drug Treatment Court celebrates one year anniversary

Nov 10, 2022 | 1:01 PM

The Central Alberta Drug Treatment Court (CADTC) has celebrated their one-year anniversary.

The CADTC is a pre-sentence justice alternative for individuals facing charges driven by active addiction. The evidence-based program integrates court intervention and treatment services, including medical, social and mental health supports, to help change patterns and behaviours associated with addiction and crime.

“Our goal is for participants to have a better life free from crime and active addiction,” said Trish McAllister-Hall, CADTC Program Manager. “Our intensive five-phase program offers focused residential and community-based treatment, helps to address physical, psycho-social and behavioural health needs, supports to obtain employment or education, and transition into the community. By providing the right type and intensity of services to meet each individual’s needs, we are already seeing participants transform their lives – reconnect with family and children, give back to their community through volunteer work, and end the chaotic cycle of addiction, crime and incarceration that has plagued their lives.”

McAllister-Hall confirmed that currently, the CADTC has nine participants, four women and five men, ranging from 33-58 years old, at various phases of the program.

She says while the program has a minimum one year requirement, the average time spent by participants is about 18 months as they work towards independence and full community re-integration. For this reason, she states there are not graduates yet but they expect to see their first participant graduation in May or June 2023.

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Throughout the year, she confirmed only one participant changed their mind and dropped out of the program after joining for one week, returning back to the regular court proceedings. She says she does not know the outcome of that individual.

Officials with the CADTC say the drug treatment court has many similarities to traditional courts with some defining differences. They say the CADTC program is made up of a multi-disciplinary collaborative team of specially trained judges, federal and provincial Crown Prosecutors, probation officers, RCMP, and Alberta Health Services addictions services treatment services provided by the John Howard Society.

“Every member of the team plays an equal and valuable role” said McAllister-Hall.

She states the team meets weekly to discuss participant barriers and successes as program participants appear in court before the team and judge to talk about their week.

“We have an amazing collaborative team dedicated to helping our participants turn their lives around. It is a unique experience for all involved. The entire team, including the judge, is invested in the success of our participants” said Assistant Chief Judge Robin Snider. “It is about more than sobriety. They work hard to improve all aspects of their lives and to maintain long term recovery and success. Over the course of many months, we watch our participants change and grow. It is a journey filled with ups and downs, but it is an incredibly gratifying experience for all of us.”

“This program not only helps individual participants but improves the larger community and keeps people out of our criminal justice system in the long term. I’m extremely proud to be a part of the drug treatment court team,” she said.

Officials say the CADTC works closely with many community agencies to provide participants with the services and resources they require to achieve their goals and complete the program. However, they say the core of the CADTC program are the participants who make a commitment to be in the program and work incredibly hard to make monumental life changes and accomplish their goals to leave active addiction in their past.

The Central Alberta Drug Treatment Court team will be holding an Open House on Tuesday, November 15 and is inviting the public to join them in celebrating the past year. The event will be held from 2-4 p.m. at their downtown office (#150, 4828 53 St) with Red Deer City Mayor Ken Johnston present as well.