About Drug Court Services Department

Background

The first Drug Court was founded in Dade County, Florida in 1989.  The Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville Municipal Court Drug Court was established in 1991.  It was the first Drug Court instituted in California.  In 1995, the Alameda County Superior Court created a separate department of the Superior Court to provide defendants charged with possession of controlled substances an opportunity to address their drug addiction through a comprehensive program of drug rehabilitation.  In 1996, the two courts combined operations at one courthouse location, thus forming the Alameda County Consolidated Drug Court.

Program

The core components of the Superior Court of California Drug Court are provided by the Alameda County Probation Department, community based treatment providers, and pre-treatment services provided by the Superior Court of California Drug Court Services Office. Once assessment and interviews are done through a collaboration with treatment service providers, the participant is matched with the appropriate level of treatment (outpatient, residential, NA/AA meetings, etc.), all of which include regular drug testing.  The drug court team addresses the participant’s drug addiction as well as other critical areas such as mental health problems, medical conditions, literacy skills, motivation and readiness to participate in an on-going drug treatment program and finally, vocational training / job placement services.