CenterPoint Human Services recently received a $1.2 million grant from the United States Department of Justice-Office of Justice Programs aimed at youth drug treatment. 

The money will be used to develop a Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program in Forsyth County. 

“It’s $1.2 million over the course of the next four years and will serve kids ages 12-16 who have non-violent offenses. The opportunity to divert kids from legal involvement and to instead offer opportunities for substance abuse treatment means that these kids will have a way out and a way to begin to bring positive aspects to their lives,” says Ronda Outlaw, CenterPoint’s Chief Administrative Officer.

Outlaw says the funding is important, because it comes at a time when many communities in North Carolina have seen cuts in recent years in state and federal funds for child and adolescent substance abuse treatment programs.

CenterPoint is one of only three sites selected nationally for the grant.

The agency is collaborating with Insight Human Services, a division of Partnership for a Drug Free NC, Inc. for the program. Forsyth County judicial representatives and child care service providers also are assisting with the project.

Dr. Sam Gray, a child Psychologist at Insight says the money will help hire around four full-time staff members to help screen and assess children during the process.  

“They come into the juvenile court at various levels and that is the benefit of having an assessor at the front end is to determine how serious is the problem and what level of treatment do we need to put this child in to most adequately help them. It allows us to match a child’s degree of substance abuse problem with the right level of evidence-based treatment, so they can be successful,” says Gray.