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The Supreme Court of Ohio along with the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and Ohio Department of Mental Health is sponsoring a conference for drug, mental health, DUI and Re-entry court professionals called “Specialized Dockets: The Ties That Bind,” on Friday, Oct. 27.
The conference, to be held at the Columbus/Worthington Holiday Inn in Worthington, is expected to have more than 300 participants, including judges, attorneys, law enforcement, treatment providers and counselors.
Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton as well as Michael Hogan, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Carolyn Givens, director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, will give welcoming remarks and introductions.
Under the leadership of Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, drug courts were established in 1995. Justice Stratton has worked to help Ohio develop drug courts, mental health courts and other jail diversion programs. In 2001, the Supreme Court created an office designed to assist and support local courts in developing specialized programs uniquely tailored to helping specific populations within the court system.
“Ohio's support for specialized dockets is demonstrated by the more than 67 drug courts and 27 mental health courts in the state, making our state a leader in the movement,” Justice Stratton said. “Success stories result when a community collaborates to help provide treatment services to offenders.”
The conference will address issues related to mental health and substance abuse, including helping offenders get linked with community resources, components of successful drug testing, information about psychiatric illness and treatment, behavioral therapy, and the science of recovery.
Philip F. Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, will give the keynote address of the conference. Mangano was appointed in March 2002 by President George W. Bush to lead the council, which is responsible for creating the federal strategy and coordinating the response to end homelessness and achieving the realization of the President's commitment to end chronic homelessness in 10 years. Unprecedented federal collaborations have been created since 2002 through the council's leadership.
The Ohio Specialized Docket Practitioner Network is a forum in which different groups - judges and magistrates, children services staff, probation officers, court coordinators, lawyers and treatment providers – meet periodically to discuss the challenges and successes they face as drug and alcohol addiction and mental health professionals. In addition, the network provides opportunities for such professionals to receive program updates and to discover innovative and effective strategies and techniques employed by other professionals throughout the state. The program is capped each year by a conference attended by all the forum participants.
Information on the workshops can be found at: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/Spec_Dockets/events/default.asp#OSDPN
Contact: Andrea M. Strle at 614.387.9250 or Corey Schaal at 614.387.9431.