ABOUT GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY RECOVERY COURT
Administered by Michigan’s 86th District Court since 2001, the Grand Traverse County Recovery Court facilitates intensive outpatient treatment for individuals facing Driving While Intoxicated convictions. Also known as Sobriety Court, the program takes a positive reinforcement, heavily supervised approach to substance abuse treatment. Mandated counseling services can be arranged at three local facilities, according to a county document listing providers. These include Munson Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center and Catholic Human Services. The court also requires drug and alcohol testing at one of two other local facilities.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Grand Traverse County Recovery Court participants are eligible if referred by the prosecutor’s office following a second or other repeated conviction for drinking and driving. Individuals also must be non-violent defendants and county residents. An approved substance abuse assessment and diagnosis are required before beginning either of the court’s two tracks. Probation-related restrictions regarding travel, association, and curfews at the participant’s home are in place at various stages in the 24- to 36- month program.
Both Recovery Court tracks follow individualized plans within three highly structured phases. Participants work on 12-step concepts and practices throughout. The misdemeanor and felony tracks differ in terms of the number of convictions and length of jail sentences involved. Each begins with a minimum of four or six months during which frequent judicial reviews, probation officer meetings, substance abuse counseling, and breathalyers and urine screenings are required. In this phase, participants must attend daily Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
In the second phase, required activities remain the same, but with less frequency over another 120 to 150 days. Additionally, participants work with the treatment team to develop personalized “healthy living plans,” which address such ongoing recovery elements as physical fitness, community volunteering, and supportive relationships. The final phase continues court, counseling, and self-help meetings along with random drug screening. Program participants begin to implement their healthy living plans and describe the changes they are pursuing in a written assignment.
Throughout the two-year process, each individual’s counselor collaborates with court personnel. Individual and group counseling is designed to address addiction along with co-occurring mental health disorders and relational and vocational concerns. In some cases, education or employment is required. All participants must pursue a GED if they did not complete high school.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Among the team members working with each participant are graduates of the recovery court program, court officials, and licensed counselors from affiliated facilities.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Feedback on the Grand Traverse County Recovery Court is scarce. To date, Best-rehabs.com has received survey responses from one individual, who characterized the staff as helpful and the facility as clean. It is not apparent which treatment center was involved in the respondent’s program. They awarded four out of five stars for the effectiveness of treatment and the availability of options in counseling approaches. While admissions and discharge procedures received just three stars, a five-star rating indicated that the program’s affordability was highly satisfactory.
FINANCING
According to Grand Traverse County website, participants pay for testing, counseling, and various fines and other costs throughout the Recovery Court program. Sliding fee scales are available, and specific costs depend on the testing and treatment providers.