During fiscal year (FY) 2024, sixty-one (61) approved recovery courts operated in Virginia. These included fifty-two (52) adult courts, three (3) juvenile courts, five (5) family courts, and one (1) regional driving under the influence (DUI) recovery court. Notably, data from the recently approved Central Virginia Adult Recovery Court and Hanover Adult Recovery Court are not included in this report, as they did not begin operations during FY 2024. Central Virginia Adult Recovery Court received approval in June 2024, while Hanover Adult Recovery Court, originally approved in 2016, was re-approved to resume operations in June 2024.

Goals of Virginia Recovery Courts include:

• Reducing substance use among offenders.
• Lowering recidivism rates.
• Decreasing substance-related court workloads.
• Enhancing personal, familial, and societal accountability, among offenders.
• Promoting effective planning and resource allocation among the criminal justice system and community agencies.

Recovery courts provide substance use and mental health treatment as alternatives to traditional case processing. This approach may include alternatives to incarceration, case dismissal, charge reductions, and/or reduced supervision. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, substance use disorders (SUDs) are a mental disorder that affect a person’s brain and behavior, leading to an inability to control their use of substances such as legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications. The term “brain disease" emphasizes the way excessive substance use alters the brain, but it also highlights that SUDs are synonymous with mental health conditions. In Virginia, nearly a quarter million adults live with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.(*2) About 70 - 80% of recovery court participants have a history with law enforcement involvement, which often leads to their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system rather than increased access to appropriate care. By integrating evidence-based strategies in a public health framework, recovery courts address offenders’ specific needs that traditional court settings often overlook. This integrated approach increases public safety by connecting the criminal justice system with treatment providers and community resources.

This report reviews the basic operations and outcomes of Virginia’s Recovery Courts during FY 2024. The analyses are based on data from participants enrolled in recovery court programs from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, regardless of their participation outcomes.(*3) It covers measures such as participant demographics, program entry offenses, program duration, graduation and termination rates, as well as rearrest and reconviction rates post-exit.

The data presented in this report are sources from two primary databases: 1) the Virginia specialty dockets database, developed and maintained by OES, and 2) arrest data obtained from the Virginia State Police (VSP).

Due to the number of limited participants in the DUI, family, and juvenile recovery court models during FY 2024, only basic data are provided for these models.

The report highlights best practices in Virginia’s Recovery Courts, such as use of the Risk and Needs Triage (RANT®) tool. This tool generates immediate reports categorizing potential participants into one of four risk/needs quadrants, indicating the optimal level of supervision and treatment based on their criminogenic risks and clinical needs. Utilization of the RANT® tool is mandatory for screening all potential recovery court participants.

_________________________________________________
(*2) SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), available at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health.
(*3) The primary data reported here is Fiscal Year 2024 data. However, for the purposes of longitudinal perspective, years dating back to 2016 may be presented in certain tables or figures. For the section on criminal recidivism, the focus is on persons who left a recovery court in 2021, as is detailed in that section.