Champaign Co.Drug Court is a specialty court that manages drug abuse cases through intensive supervision, drug testing, treatment and sanctions/incentives. Del Ryan, Drug Court Coordinator
Since the first drug court was founded in Miami over 20 years ago, there has been scientific research that clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of drug court programs. Drug courts significantly reduce drug use, and related crime, and are much more cost-effective than traditional criminal justice methods. Drug courts serve over 120,000 clients per year and have more than a million graduates in all 50 states and 15 countries.
Addiction to drugs is difficult to overcome in the best of circumstances. Individuals sentenced to Drug Court work harder than they have ever worked in their lives. A defendant’s success requires tremendous dedication from the professional staff, the clients, and their families to make the transition from addiction to sobriety. The following agencies are represented on the Drug Court Team: State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Court Services, Prairie Center Health Systems, TASC, Community Elements, the Judiciary, the Sheriff’s Department, Family Services and Safe House.
The mission of the Champaign County Drug Court is to develop substance-free, productive citizens and break the cycle of criminal recidivism. This is accomplished by assessing and directing individuals with substance abuse addictions into judicially-supervised treatment.
Drug Court is cost-effective for our community. The cost to taxpayers for incarcerating a defendant is approximately $24,000 per year. The cost of treatment for a Drug Court participant is approximately $5,000 per year. Therefore, an individual’s participation in the program saves the community $19,000 per year. When all totaled, the citizens of Champaign County and the State of Illinois have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the success of Drug Court.
