(Washington) – The Cleveland Municipal Court received some great news from the federal government last week, with the announcement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), of an allocation totaling $975,000 over three years for the Court’s Specialized Dockets.

SAMSHA is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities.

The money will go towards treatment, allowing 50 participants per year for a total of 150 participants.  The target population includes offenders who are addicted to alcohol and other drugs and are at risk of failing in less traditional models of supervision, such as standard probation.

The project will also focus on high-risk and high-need offenders who are eligible for one of the Court’s four specialized dockets, the Greater Cleveland Drug Court, Veterans Treatment, Mental Health and Human Trafficking Dockets.

“The court is extremely pleased to receive this tangible affirmation of the U.S. Department of Health’s acceptance and approval of our vision for the reform of certain offenders who appear before us in these categories.  Empirical evidence developed here and elsewhere proves that our more engaged, hands-on approach to rehabilitation generally tends to yield much greater and positive outcomes than more punitive interventions, such as incarceration,” said Administrative and Presiding Judge Ronald B. Adrine.

According to Grant Administrator Shari Aldridge, the overreaching goal is to establish a coordinated, multi-system approach designed to combine the sanctioning power of the specialized dockets with trauma informed and evidence-based treatment services to reduce recidivism and the abuse of alcohol and other drugs.

By The Way……..Since Shari Aldridge came on board five years ago, the court has received almost five million dollars in state and federal grants.  Prior to coming here, she worked at the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services in Columbus.