READING, Pa.- May is National Treatment Court Month. Advocates say treatment courts are an important alternative to incarceration for people struggling with addiction, mental health disorders or trauma.
Treatment courts started with an adult drug court in 1989 in Miami. Now there are around 4,000 around the country, including juvenile drug court, veterans drug court, and other types.
“As we know, so many people with addiction and mental health disorders get involved in the criminal justice system and we want to provide a rehabilitative service to them,” said John Gallagher, an Alvernia University Associate professor of Criminal Justice. “We want to treat them in the hopes that they’ll achieve recovery and hence stay out of the system.”…