Alaska Therapeutic Courts Policy Project

Overview

The Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) is partnering with Alaska’s therapeutic courts to strengthen the policies and practices that guide community supervision within these specialized court programs. Therapeutic courts—including mental health, veterans, family, and drug/DUI courts—play an important role in helping individuals address underlying needs while remaining safely in the community.

Through this project, CEPP will work with Alaska’s court system to review supervision policies, examine current supervision structures, and support staff in applying effective supervision approaches in their work with program participants. This effort will help ensure that policies reflect nationally recognized standards and reinforce practices that support participant success and long-term system improvement.

Our Approach

CEPP will collaborate with Alaska’s therapeutic courts through a structured workgroup process that brings together probation staff, court representatives, and other justice system partners. Through a series of facilitated discussions, CEPP will support the group in reviewing and refining the policies that guide supervision within therapeutic court programs.

The work will focus on strengthening policy guidance to reflect effective supervision practices and nationally recognized standards, while remaining responsive to the operational needs of Alaska’s courts.

CEPP will also assist the group in reviewing current supervision structures and caseload approaches and exploring options that support the effective use of staff time and resources. Once updates are finalized, CEPP will provide training to support staff in implementing the updated policies and practices in their daily work with participants.

The Impact

This project will help Alaska’s therapeutic courts strengthen consistency and clarity in supervision practices across programs.

By refining policies and strengthening supervision guidance, the project will help provide staff with clearer direction on supporting participant progress, responding to challenges, and applying effective supervision approaches.

The review of supervision structures will also help courts consider ways to organize staff responsibilities so that levels of supervision and support align with participant needs.

Together, these efforts will help therapeutic court teams strengthen supervision practices, support positive participant outcomes, and enhance the effectiveness of therapeutic court programs across the state.