Meth Family Services/Family Dependency Drug Court

Program Overview

The Methamphetamine Family Services Program, operated by the Pierce County Alliance, a private-non-profit agency, supports the Pierce County Drug Court and Family Treatment Court. The program was established as a component of the Washington State Methamphetamine Initiative, a comprehensive effort to address the methamphetamine crisis in Washington state through a collaboration with law enforcement, health, ecology and treatment agencies, the judiciary, and community mobilization and prevention groups.

The Methamphetamine Family Treatment services program responds to the severe impacts that illicit methamphetamine laboratories have on children living in hazardous environments and who are often subject to neglect and abuse. The program works with the caregivers who have been determined to have a drug dependency problem due to methamphetamine use and where the custody of children is in question due to the drug dependency.

So-called “treatment courts” are an evolutionary progression of the drug courts that have spread across the nation.

Services Provided

The Methamphetamine Family Services program provides an outpatient program designed especially for the methamphetamine user. Certified drug treatment counselors conduct group sessions and meet with each patient in individual sessions to treat their dependency problem. The minimum length of treatment is 12 months consisting of three phases of decreasing intensity. The program monitors any drug usage by requiring patients to provide periodic urine and breath samples on a random basis. The program can also aid clients in overcoming obstacles to treatment, by offering such services as assistance with transportation, accessing day care for kids, or arranging for temporary clean and sober housing.

Program Approach

The program operates on a dual-tracked basis, working directly with both the Pierce County Drug Court (criminal court) and the Pierce County Dependency Court (civil court).

Initially, a case is directed to the dependency drug court by the Washington State Attorney General’s office in Pierce County who represents the Department to Social and Health Services, Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS), based on mutually established criteria for eligibility. Within three days of the date a child is taken into custody by DCFS, a shelter care hearing is conducted—the first appearance of the parent or caregiver in the dependency court. Here the parent (or parents) are informed of the requirements for treatment and the process to regain custody of their child. If the parent is confirmed as eligible for drug court services and agrees to the program’s requirements, he or she is then directed to the Drug Court Program.

The client is then screened and enrolled into treatment within the week. The Drug Court judge monitors the individual’s progress throughout the course of treatment provided by the Pierce County Alliance, a state–certified drug treatment agency. Over the course of a minimum of 12 months of treatment, Alliance treatment counselors appear in court for periodic hearings to report on an offender’s compliance with program requirements, including the result of periodic random urinalyses, and make recommendations regarding further treatment or other assistance. The Drug Court judge may impose sanctions in the event of non-compliance, but also stresses positive reward and recognition where the offender demonstrates progress and a good attitude towards dealing with his or her drug and family issues.

At the same time, the caregiver must also appear before the Family Court judge, who reviews the treatment progress and works with DSHS in developing a permanency plan for the dependent children. This dual–tracking provides an expedited processing of the custody case because the court has a direct involvement with the rehabilitation of the methamphetamine user. Counselors report at least monthly to both the Drug Court and Dependency Court judges on the treatment progress of the patient and the welfare of the child.

DSHS, naturally, plays a key role in the program and has undertaken a unique approach, dedicating two social workers to each case, one to work directly with the caregiver on his or her issues and one working with the child (or children) throughout the process.

The key to the entire process is the team approach undertaken by the treatment provider, DSHS, the Attorney General’s Office, and the court judges to help the caregivers overcome drug dependency. The ultimate aim is the reunification of the family by helping caregivers regain their ability to sustain a functional family environment, or at minimum, to get the child into safe, permanent care.

Pierce County Alliance
Phone: 253-572-4750

Behavioral Health Recourses located in Olympia
Phone: 360-704-7170 ext. 211

New Horizon Counseling Services for the Spokane areas
Phone: 509-838-6092 ext. 32