AB 481

This bill creates a family treatment court grant program under the Children's

Code and a juvenile treatment court grant program under the Juvenile Justice Code,

each of which is to be administered by the Department of Children and Families and

operated within the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the Children's Code

or Juvenile Justice Code (collectively, “juvenile court”).

Under the family treatment court grant program, DCF makes grants available

to counties or Indian tribes to enable them to establish and operate programs to

develop procedures that screen, assess, and provide dispositional alternatives for

parents whose children have come under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. A

county or Indian tribe that receives a grant must establish eligibility criteria for

participation in the county's or Indian tribe's program, provide evidence-based

treatment services to program participants, and integrate all services provided to

program participants by various governmental and nongovernmental entities. The

bill also requires counties or Indian tribes that receive those grants to submit data

to DCF that must be analyzed annually by DCF. DCF must also, every five years,

prepare a comprehensive report of the program.

Under the juvenile treatment court grant program, DCF similarly makes

grants available to counties or Indian tribes to enable them to establish and operate

programs to develop procedures that screen, assess, and provide dispositional

alternatives for juveniles who have problems related to mental illness or substance

abuse. In all other respects, the juvenile treatment court grant program is similar

to the family treatment court grant program.