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Specialty Courts


DUI Treatment Court Program

 DUI Treatment Court Participant Handbook available for download. (Spanish version )

The DUI Treatment Court Program was authorized in 2014 by Senate Bill 260 to enhance highway and community safety with evidence based treatment for individuals who have serious alcohol and substance abuse problems. Requirements for entry into the program are: (1) the DUI must be a first offense with a high BAC level or a second offense; (2) the DUI must not have resulted in severe bodily injury or death; (3) the individual must be evaluated through the DUI-RANT Assessment resulting in a High Risk/High Need designation and (4) the individual must plead guilty to the offense.

The safety of the community and promotion of lifestyle change through specialized treatment and close monitoring is the main focus of the DUI Treatment Court Program. Accordingly, participants are required to attend individual and group counseling sessions with our treatment provider, meet regularly with the program dedicated Probation Officer, appear before the Judge as required to review their status and progress in the program and are required to complete 30 days of community service. There is zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use and participants are subject to random drug/alcohol screenings. Additional program requirements include the wearing of a Transdermal Alcohol Device (TAD) on the ankle for 90 days and the installation of an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) on any car registered to the participant

Since accepting its first participants in December of 2014 as of September 2017, 127 individuals have entered the program with 81 participants successfully graduating. Currently, there are 38 active participants.


Drug Diversion Program for Non-Violent Offenders

The Court operates a highly successful court-supervised comprehensive Drug Diversion Program for non-violent offenders. This voluntary program includes regular appearances before a judge, participation in substance abuse education, drug testing, and treatment. The Drug Diversion Program represents a collaborative effort between the Court of Common Pleas, the Department of Justice, the Public Defender, the private bar, the treatment providers, and the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. (The TRI program is limited to New Castle County.) Collaboration with the Treatment Research Center (TRI) has provided the basis for observation, research, and analysis to launch scores of other drug diversion programs throughout the United States and internationally. Based on TRI`s research, in FY 2012, the Court continued its commitment to identify and accept into the program those defendants who will most benefit from the program and who are committed to a clean and sober lifestyle. The Court has handled more than 6,853 participants since its inception in 1998.

While there are a limited number of drug charges within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas, the Court serves a large number of clients with serious drug problems. To address the needs of all participants, the New Castle County Drug Diversion Court introduced a new tool to improve services to its clients on July 1, 2010. The new tool referred to as the "RANT Assessment" is a web-based placement tool developed by the Court`s partners at the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. "RANT" is an acronym for Risk and Needs Assessment Triage. The assessment tool asks each client a series of questions which are used to assess each client`s risks and needs. The answers to the questions are used to group clients into one of four quadrants, those with: low risks/low needs; low risks/high needs; high risk/low needs; and high risk/high needs. Identifying these risk/needs groups allows treatment to be better tailored to meet the individual needs of the client, promote successful program completion, and to reduce recidivism rates.


Mental Health Court

The Court of Common Pleas established its first Mental Health Court in New Castle County in 2003, which has been expanded statewide. The Court continues to operate its Mental Health Court in New Castle County. Modeled on the Drug Court concept, the goal of Mental Health Court is to effectively serve the special needs of the mental health population through continuous judicial oversight and intensive case management and, through this approach, to reduce this population`s contacts with the criminal justice system. Approximately 260 cases have been referred to the Mental Health Court since its inception, exceeding the original goal of serving 100 misdemeanor offenders. Ninety-eight percent of the admissions have been compliant with their case management plans and, as of June 30, 2012, 89% of the individuals who successfully completed the program did not incur new convictions within six months of their graduation.


Trauma Informed Probation Program

In Fiscal Year 2012, the Court introduced the Trauma Informed Probation calendar (TIP). TIP is a new specialty court designed to handle female defendants who have experienced significant trauma in their backgrounds. The goal is to provide trauma-informed care to help improve outcomes for the TIP participants and to reduce recidivism rates. Trauma Informed Probation entered 30 participants in FY 2012.