The purpose of these online training modules is to improve the judicial system’s response to youth who are underage drinkers at all jurisdictional levels. It is important for the court to provide community leadership to deter and prevent underage drinking. Judges and probation officers have a vital role to play in addressing this challenging issue and are uniquely able to take positive steps to help solve this problem.
The National Center for State Courts and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility are pleased to offer the Effective Judicial Interventions for Underage Drinking Offenders course. Developed by NCSC and Responsibility.org in consultation with a national panel of experts, this cutting-edge, online course is designed to educate judges about underage drinking such that they can make informed decisions in the courtroom.
The course provides judges with information about how to make accurate assessments, appropriate sentencing decisions and tailored treatment plans for underage drinkers whether they are one-time offenders or more serious, habitual underage alcohol abusers. The program also encourages judges to consider an underage alcohol offense as a potential turning point for the juveniles that come into their courtroom and highlights the necessity of a collaborative approach in the adjudication of each individual offender.
The course consists of four online modules and accompanying resources including case studies, model case plans and videos. The learning objectives are as follows:
- Increase understanding of the importance of assessment and treatment of juvenile offenders;
- Identify appropriate community resources for referrals;
- Develop a treatment plan that is tailored to individual risks and needs; and
- Understand the importance of the judiciary taking a leadership role in addressing the issue of underage drinking prevention and intervention within the criminal justice system.
Responsibility.org recognizes the importance of providing criminal justice practitioners with user-friendly, practical educational resources and delivering them in a format that is conducive to a busy professional schedule. The easy-to-navigate modules allow practitioners to complete the course as time permits and can be re-visited as desired.
Completion of Effective Judicial Interventions for Underage Drinking Offenders will prepare judges and other criminal justice practitioners to make informed decisions when dealing with this subset of offenders and foster leadership on this issue.
