Drug court receives $400,000 federal grant

The Department of Justice awarded Clark County’s Felony Drug Court a $400,000 federal grant to enhance the therapeutic program.

The grant is part of a $58.8 million nationwide initiative to strengthen drug court programs and address the country’s opioid epidemic, according to a DOJ news release.

“We are very thrilled about this opportunity that can bring additional help and resources to our community in need,” Shauna McCloskey, Clark County’s Therapy Specialty Courts coordinator, said in a phone interview.

McCloskey said she partnered with DeDe Sieler, program manager for the Clark County Alcohol & Drug Program, to apply for the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Drug Court Enhancement Grant in February.

Now that the county has been awarded the grant, it must go through the acceptance process, which includes reviewing several pages of conditions, she said.

The county will make an official announcement of what it intends to do with the funds after that internal process is complete, McCloskey said, which will take about two weeks.

Felony Drug Court is a supervised program that aims to reduce substance abuse and crime, and increase rehabilitation through court intervention and treatment. There are currently 145 people enrolled in the program, which offers two tracks — traditional drug court and the residential drug offender sentencing alternative, or DOSA.

The county’s traditional drug court began about 18 years ago and allows qualifying offenders to plead guilty but postpone sentencing. Instead, offenders comply with the program, which mimics supervised probation, offers treatment resources and is monitored by the court. If they successfully complete it, they often are given credit for time served or in some cases, their convictions are dismissed, McCloskey said.

Residential DOSA, created in 2009, requires offenders to plead guilty and be sentenced to two years of community supervision, she said, in which state-funded treatment beds for up to six months of in-patient treatment are made available in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and the traditional drug court team.

As of Dec. 31, 2016, 1,452 people were admitted into the traditional drug court track and 560 successfully graduated. And as of the same date, 270 people were sentenced through residential DOSA and 84 graduated, McCloskey said.

Last year, nearly 60,000 Americans died due to drug overdoses — 8,000 more than in 2015.

Washington’s opioid death rate in 2015 was 5 1/2 deaths per 100,000 people, more than double the rate in 1999. And the majority of those deaths were caused by opioid use, according to the DOJ.

Washington received $2,530,499 in grant money to go toward various programs.

“The grants to Washington state will pay for stronger prescription drug monitoring programs to curb opioid abuse, and will also fund more treatment and drug court options for those struggling with addiction,” U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said in the news release.

The state departments of health and social and health services, Mason and Grays Harbor counties and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe also received grants.