Florida Problem-Solving Courts Best Practice Standards
Background
Best practice standards for problem-solving courts clearly define the practices that problem-solving courts should implement in order to adhere to evidence-based principles which have been shown to improve overall court outcomes. The Florida Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards were developed by the Task Force on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Courts and approved by the Supreme Court of Florida in September 2017. The standards are based primarily on the Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards, Vol. I (2013) and Vol. II (2015), published by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP).
Since their initial development, both volumes of the NADCP Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards were revised in 2018. The Florida Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards were updated to align with these revisions, and to align with current or proposed sets of best practices for other types of problem-solving courts in Florida, which also considered the national Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards released by the Center for Children and Family Futures and NADCP in 2019.
In addition, the multidisciplinary Dependency Court Improvement Panel developed best practice standards for early childhood courts, which are based largely on research and analysis has been conducted on Safe Babies Court Team sites in other states as well as research and analysis of specific early childhood evidence-based interventions. The Florida Supreme Court adopted the Florida Early Childhood Court Best Practice Standards in November 2019.
Standards and guidelines are currently being developed for Florida's other problem-solving court types.
Approved Standards
Florida Adult Drug Courts
Florida Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards