CBA supports innovative and responsible approaches to justice, including specialized courts such as mental health, Indigenous, domestic violence and drug treatment courts. Drug Treatment Courts (DTCs) are pre-sentence treatment programs that try to rehabilitate non-violent offenders. DTCs divert offenders away from imprisonment on the condition they complete an intensive, judicially- supervised drug addiction recovery program.
These programs are proven to deliver a significant return on investment to society by reducing costs associated with policing, courts, and corrections, as well as decreased systemic marginalization, victimization, and property loss.
DTCs have been operational in Calgary and Edmonton since 2005 and 2007, respectively, and they have been operating in other parts of North America for more than 25 years.
The majority of participants who graduate from intensive, judicially-supervised drug addiction recovery programs become contributing, tax-paying members of society. For example, 7 out of 10 graduates from Calgary’s Drug Treatment Court have no new criminal charges or convictions post treatment.
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