Standards on Substance Abuse: Standard XVI. Community resources

Standard XVI

⁽⁹⁾ Every court should identify the specific resources available in the community for the treatment of substance abuse, and establish and maintain relationships with local treatment providers. If services for a diverse population are not available in the community, the court should determine where such services are available and develop and maintain relationships with the providers of those services.

Commentary

In each court, the effectiveness of the substance abuse strategy will depend in large measure on knowledge  of treatment resources in the local community and the cultivation of relationships with various providers. Often, for example, the ability to find a bed at an in-patient facility springs from the personal knowledge of a judge or probation officer about the facility and its personnel. The judge and the probation officer, therefore, should acquire a thorough understanding of treatment providers in the local community and should be aware of the meeting times and places in the community for self help recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). The directory developed pursuant to Standard XV should be used as a resource for identifying facilities to serve a diverse population.

9. Identification of Community Resources is called for by Standards 10:04 and 10:05 of the Commissioner of Probation's Standards for Supervision for Probation Offices of the Superior Court Department, District Court Department, Boston Municipal Court Department and the Juvenile Court Department.