Drug Treatment Court Services

 What it is: The Edmonton Drug Treatment Court Service (EDTCS) is an intensive one year (minimum) court-supervised drug treatment program that helps participants break the cycle of crime and addiction, learn to live a life free of addiction to drugs, make amends for past crimes and continue on to become productive contributing members of society. Drug Court takes place every Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. in court room 267 at the Edmonton Court House. The purpose of the drug treatment court is to restore justice through reduced crime recidivism and victimization in the community and to reduce overall expenditures of the Courts, Legal, Corrections and Human Services systems. The goal of the drug treatment court is to support drug addicts to rebuild their life and learn to live a lifetime in recovery.

Who can apply: The EDTCS accepts adult men and women who are addicted to drugs and are committing crimes to sustain and support their addiction, are at a high risk to continue in their addiction and criminal activity and are facing a substantial jail sentence as a result of their crimes. The drug court operates on a basis of a guilty plea with a delayed sentencing process (s.720 (2) of the criminal code) with entry into the program being dependant on the consent of the Crown, the Court and the Accused. Individuals who are interested in applying to the program should contact their legal counsel or probation officer for a referral.

Who contributes: The operation of the EDTCS is based on a multi-disciplinary team concept that is comprised of the Judge(s), Provincial and Federal Crown Prosecutors, Duty Counsel (Alberta Legal Aid), Social Worker (Community & Social Services), Edmonton Police Service Liaison, Probation Officer (Alberta Justice & Solicitor General), and the EDTCS Case Management team. The multi-disciplinary team works collaboratively with the participants by way of intensive judicial supervision through weekly court appearances where participants give an account of their daily progress to the Judge.

How it is funded: The EDTCS is funded by Justice Canada, Alberta Justice & Solicitor General and also receives private funding from Elvis & Twyla Iginla (Iginla & Company). The program works collaboratively with the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Alberta Health Services and a multitude of community agencies, service providers and organizations. Private funding donations are also made by several community businesses and individuals.

The Program: Participants receive intensive supervision through weekly case management and probation involvement, weekly court attendance to speak to the Judge, and random and regular drug urinalysis screens. Participants are required to be actively engaged in daily and ongoing programming while in the drug treatment court.

Like most drug treatment courts, the ultimate goal of the program is to break the cycle of addiction and criminal activity. However, EDTCS places an additional emphasis on the achievement of reintegration of participants into the community and community restoration. EDTCS participants are supported to not only engage in recovery but also improve every dimension of their life including housing, employment, education, physical and mental health, relationships, family, dealing with past trauma, reconnecting to their culture and giving back to the community through volunteer hours and community involvement.

Drug Courts overall have been proven to elicit the most effective and cost-efficient results for the individuals who are drug dependant and at risk of failing in less intensive rehabilitative programs. Over 70% of program graduates have not had new criminal convictions. The participants of the EDTCS are graduating from drug court as productive contributing members of society.

The program has an ongoing wait list of individuals who are hoping for an opportunity to change their lives. Our goal is to continue to build strong partnerships and increase and create sustainable funding in order to meet the high demand for drug treatment court services in the Edmonton region.