NDCRC staff members: (L-R: front row) Kenneth McMillan, Ben Yerby, Christina Lanier, Jeanne Persuit (L-R back row) Sally MacKain, Kristen DeVall, Savannah Bryson. Not pictured: Ron Vetter Photo Credit: Bill Bolduc
DATA INFORMED: National Drug Court Resource Center launches interactive map of treatment courts by Jeanne Persuit and Caroline Cropp ’99, ’06M
Treatment courts exist to lead those with substance use and mental health disorders in the justice system into a life of recovery and stability. Since 2019, the National Drug Court Resource Center, housed in the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Social Science Applied Research Center, has provided treatment court practitioners with resources to assist with their lifesaving work. For the first time since 2016, court counts across the U.S. and territories have been updated and are available via the NDCRC’s new interactive map. The new and improved map of treatment courts reflects the number of courts by state and county as of December 2020. Users can explore and compare data from the U.S. Census, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Survey on
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Drug Use and Health, and Uniform Crime Report as they relate to the prevalence of treatment courts across the US and territories. “We are in the process of collecting juvenile treatment court numbers with the assistance of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals to further build out the map,” said NDCRC co-director Christina Lanier. Lanier and co-director Kristen DeVall have led the interdisciplinary team of UNCW researchers, staff and students in creating deliverables such as the interactive map, the “Justice to Healing” podcast and a monthly newsletter. The National Drug Court Resource Center’s mission is to equip treatment court practitioners with an array of resources relevant to the field. The NDCRC is funded by a $2.4 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance; the current cooperative agreement extends through September 2022.
