Treatment Courts Collaborative

Four judges successfully completed the JCMH’s Treatment Courts Collaborative, a program which pairs judges who are interested in creating or expanding a treatment court with mentor judges who have an established court in their own jurisdiction. The program concluded on April 4th. The judges who completed the program include:

• Hon. Jennifer Dillingham, 81st Judicial District Court (Atascosa, Frio, Karnes, La Salle & Wilson Counties)
• Hon. Cari Starritt-Burnett, 169th Judicial District Court (Bell County)
• Hon. Kirsten Legore, Guadalupe County Court at Law #2
• Hon. Susan F. Harris, Kerr County Court at Law

Without accessible resources, some people with mental illness and substance use disorder cycle through the court system repeatedly. Treatment Court Programs can interrupt this cycle by connecting justice-involved individuals with long-term community-based treatment, resources, and ongoing judicial monitoring.

The JCMH began the second cohort of the Treatment Courts Collaborative (formerly the Mental Health Courts Collaborative) in January 2025. The Collaborative provides technical assistance and support to judges who want to start a Treatment Court Program or judges whose Treatment Court Program is less than a year old.

Participants attended four online sessions in early 2025 covering the topics: the role of treatment courts, data and funding in treatment courts, treatment court ethics, and peer support in treatment courts. They were also offered a registration scholarship to attend the annual conference of the Texas Association of Specialty Courts, which wrapped up on March 26th in Corpus Christi, TX. This Collaborative is for judges, by judges, with the chance to learn from experienced mentor judges and collaborate with other judges facing the same challenges.