Recovery Courts

The mission of the Orange County recovery courts is to provide a pathway of accountability and substance use treatment that allows participants to become healthy, productive, and law-abiding members of society.

Orange County offers two therapeutic programs for court involved adults who have substance use disorders – Adult Recovery Court and Family Recovery Court.

Adult Recovery Court is a diversionary court for high-risk individuals who are facing significant terms of incarceration. Participants are referred to the program by judges, defense attorneys, and probation officers. The monitoring team consists of a judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, treatment provider, probation officer, and court coordinator. 

Participants work with their monitoring team on a schedule of drug testing and twice monthly court visits; to connect to substance use treatment and other needed resources; and to develop coping strategies and recovery plans. People who attend recovery court have often exhausted other less intensive options. Adult recovery court offers participants another chance to avoid incarceration by working through their treatment plan with the support of available community services. Recovery courts benefit both the community and the individual by providing services to help heal instead of incarceration to punish.

Family Recovery Court is a collaborative effort between the court system and the Department of Social Services (DSS), and is for parents who have a pending abuse, neglect, or dependency case. Participants are referred to the program by DSS social workers and through Child Planning Conferences. They are monitored by a multidisciplinary team consisting of a judge, defense attorney, DSS attorney, DSS social worker, treatment provider, guardian ad litem, court coordinator, and court case manager. Successful participants enhance their parenting skills and improve the chances of maintaining their parental rights. 

How Do They Work?

These alternative court programs require participants to engage in formalized substance abuse disorder treatment and a variety of recovery-based activities. The core components of both programs are random drug testing, regular treatment sessions, and frequent court appearances. Along the way, participants receive motivational incentives and timely sanctions to help modify behavior. Each program consists of five phases, and approximately one year of compliance is required for graduation.

How Do They Help?

In addition to enjoying the benefits of a sober lifestyle and making progress toward long-term recovery, Adult Recovery Court and Family Recovery Court participants can receive assistance with housing, employment, transportation, child care, mental health treatment, and a variety of other services. The societal benefits include safer communities and the cost savings associated with alleviating over-burdened criminal legal, social service, and health care systems.

By breaking the cycle of substance use and justice involvement, successful graduates of recovery courts are able to remain employed, find and keep housing, repair relationships, have their children back in their lives, and have their driver’s license restored. Some graduates go on to become recovery coaches themselves.

Recovery Courts Brochure

Adult Recovery Court Referral

Family Recovery Court Referral