Nov. 20, 2009
Specialized Dockets Practitioners Attend Conference
More than 350 professionals involved in specialized dockets in courts across Ohio met Thursday in Worthington for training sessions and to learn innovative and effective strategies from each other.
The sixth annual conference of the Ohio Specialized Dockets Practitioner Network included national speakers and 22 workshops on a variety of topics such as mental health services for veterans, domestic violence offender accountability, adult and juvenile re-entry issues, and medication assistance for opiod treatment.
Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Sage, chairman of the recently created Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Specialized Dockets, welcomed the 350 participants, including judges, attorneys, law enforcement personnel, treatment providers and counselors.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. David Mee-Lee, an internationally recognized psychiatrist in co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders. He is the chief editor of the Revised Second Edition of the ASAM Criteria which includes criteria for co-occurring mental and substance-related disorders and is a senior fellow for the Co-Occurring Center for Excellence for SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Since the establishment of the Hamilton County Drug Court in 1995, Ohio is recognized as a national leader in the implementation of specialized dockets. In 2001, the Supreme Court created the Specialized Dockets Section to assist and support local courts in developing specialized programs uniquely tailored to helping specific populations within the court system. Today, there are 130 specialized dockets operating in Ohio including drug courts, mental health courts, re-entry courts, OVI courts, sex offender courts, felony non-support courts and domestic violence courts.
The Supreme Court, the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) have recognized the need for interaction among the professionals who staff these courts. In order to provide such a forum, the network was created to provide peer support and technical assistance to these programs.
The conference, which was sponsored by the Specialized Dockets Section, was held in conjunction with ODMH and ODADAS.
Learn more about the Ohio Specialized Dockets Practitioner Network.
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow, 614.387.9250.