Therapeutic Courts
News & Events
- Alaska Public Media - How understanding childhood trauma influences a Palmer therapeutic court for families (February 16, 2020)
- KFQD.com - Interview with Judge Wallace: Anchorage Veterans Court (November 8, 2019)
- Media Advisory - Anchorage Veterans Court (November 7, 2019)
- Media Advisory - Alaska’s Therapeutic Courts Recognize National Recovery Month – September 2019
- KTUU.com - Therapeutic court graduate shares his journey to recovery
- Media Advisory - Alaska’s Therapeutic Courts Recognize National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, December 2018
- Juneau Empire - ‘Not going back’: Longtime alcoholic wows others with turnaround
- Alaska Public Media - Alaska’s Therapeutic Courts
- Daily News-Miner - Fairbanks Wellness Court Celebrates Addiction Recovery by Donating Food and Clothing
- KINYradio.com - Therapeutic Court doing the job
- Frontiersman - Therapy over punishment: Palmer Wellness Court and Veteran’s Court
- Alaska Public Media - How a State Court and a Tribal Court Collaborate on the Kenai
- KDLL Public Radio - U.S. Surgeon General: Kenaitze Services a Bright Spot in Opioid Epidemic
- webcenter11.com (KTVF) - Fairbanks Wellness Court Shares Message of Sobriety with Fairbanks Community
- Senator Dan Sullivan - Visited the Anchorage Veterans Court (Senator Sullivan's Facebook blog)
- Alaska Dispatch News - Anchorage Judge Resigns From Mental Health Court She Created, with Succession Plan in Place
- Alaska Public Media - Palmer Judge to Launch Family Infant Toddler (FIT) Therapeutic Court
- Joint-Jurisdiction Wellness Court: Kenai
- Peninsula Clarion - Joint Therapeutic Court Between Tribe, State Holds Grand Opening
- KDLL.org - Henu' Wellness Court Offers Different Path for Recovery
- Alaska Court System and Kenaitze Indian Tribe Signing Ceremony Will Create Joint-Jurisdiction State-Tribal Community Wellness Court
- Alaska Attorney General Joins the Court System and the Kenaitze Tribe in Establishing State-Tribal Wellness Court
- KTUU.com - Kenai Joint-Jurisdiction Wellness Court (Video)
- Attorney General's Office, State of Alaska - Three Veterans graduate from Anchorage Veterans Court
- Frontiersman - New Drug Court in Palmer Seeks to Help Offenders Avoid Prison, Reduce Recidivism
- Juneau Empire - Juneau Therapeutic Court Battles Addiction on Case-To-Case Basis
- Alaska Dispatch News - Alcohol & Me: Wellness Court (hosted on YouTube)
- Alaska Dispatch News - Recovering addict finds a friend in pharmacist who busted her
About the Therapeutic Courts
Therapeutic Model for these Courts
The therapeutic model is not an “easy way out” of a felony or misdemeanor, but an alternative justice model in which a collaborative court team made up of a supervising judge, district attorney, defense counsel, probation officer and/or substance abuse or mental health treatment provider, oversees and closely monitors participants who chose the treatment program in lieu of incarceration.
1. The Court Team may include:
- Judge
- Prosecuting attorney
- Defense attorney
- Substance abuse and/or mental health treatment provider
- Law enforcement officer such as Probation Officer, or
- Case manager/ case coordinator
- Guardian ad litem for Child in Need of Aid (CINA) Therapeutic Court (CTC)
- Project coordinator or manager
2. Eligible participants:
- May be admitted to a therapeutic court if they meet the eligibility standards of each court and the substance abuse or mental health treatment criteria of the provider
- Can voluntarily “opt in” to a therapeutic court
- Enter a plea of “no contest” or “guilty”
- Participate in a structured program and plan
- For the duration of their participation in the program, have their sentencing deferred
- In the CTC, the parent's agree to the allegations of abuse and/or neglect in order to “opt in”
When individuals are accepted into a therapeutic court, participants are required to attend court status hearings weekly, bi-monthly or monthly depending on their stage in the program. The Court Team meets weekly to review their progress, and to suggest incentives or sanctions that may best encourage the participants’ success. Although the details may vary within each of the therapeutic courts, the basic structure is the same:
- A team approach to supervise and encourage a participant’s progress
- A system of sanctions and incentives for performance in the program
- Upon successful completion of the program, participants’ sentences are imposed according to the initially negotiated agreements
- In the CTC, when children are reunited with their parent(s) or parental rights are relinquished, the case is closed with the Office of Children’s Services
- Participants who are unable or unwilling to complete the program are dismissed, and their sentence is immediately imposed
- Participants who are unable or unwilling to complete the program are dismissed and the sentence that was negotiated at the time of admission to the court is immediately imposed
For information contact the Therapeutic Courts Program Coordinator, Michelle Bartley at (907) 264-8250.
Drug & DUI Courts
All Publications are Adobe Acrobat PDF documents unless otherwise indicated.
Family Courts
All Publications are Adobe Acrobat PDF documents unless otherwise indicated.
Mental Health Courts
All Publications are Adobe Acrobat PDF documents unless otherwise indicated.
Veterans Court
All Publications are Adobe Acrobat PDF documents unless otherwise indicated.