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County approves two-year START pilot to fold specialty treatment courts under one program
Summary
The board approved a two-year pilot called START (Substance Treatment, Advocacy, and Recovery to Thrive) to consolidate specialty courts, add mental-health and human-trafficking courts and request county ARP funding for staff and operations.
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners voted on May 19 to fund a two-year pilot of START (Substance Treatment, Advocacy and Recovery to Thrive), a plan to unify specialty court functions under county-managed Justice Services and to fund two additional specialty courts: a mental-health court and a human-trafficking (Worth) court.
Justice Services Director Courtney McCullough told commissioners the START pilot aims to dissolve silos among existing sobriety, veterans, adult drug, family opioid and juvenile drug courts, align standard operating procedures, centralize case management and collect unified performance measures. McCullough said county hiring would administer grants and operate the courts while the program would seek continuous grant funding and return to the board with a formal evaluation after 18 to 20 months.
Staff recommended a pilot budget to support two additional courts for an initial two-year period. Vice Chairwoman Jones moved to approve use of freed-up ARP capacity funding to support START; during discussion the board adjusted the requested amount to $860,000 for the pilot (to be reduced if a pending state award of $180,000 is confirmed). County staff said they would return with a formal evaluation and continue pursuing grant funding.
Commissioners asked for metrics and for clarity on how outcomes would be measured and reported. McCullough said START would standardize intake, referral, rewards/sanctions and data collection across courts and make data available on a county dashboard. The director also noted the pilot would help address individuals with mental health and substance use disorders who enter the county detention center; jail-health statistics were cited showing several thousand detainees with those diagnoses during 2024.
Motion and vote
- Motion: Vice Chairwoman Jones moved to approve using available ARP freed-up capacity funds for START and to adopt associated budget amendments (motion amended in discussion to authorize $860,000 with adjustment if a $180,000 state award is received). Seconded. The motion passed (recorded roll-call in the meeting transcript). The board directed staff to return with an 18-to-20-month formal evaluation of the pilot and to continue seeking grant funding.
Why it matters
START centralizes administration and measurement of multiple specialty-court programs, adds resources targeted at mental-health and trafficking-related justice interventions, and aims to reduce local detention populations by offering structured diversion and treatment pathways. The pilot uses ARP-related capacity funds rather than general-fund dollars, per staff presentation.
Provenance
- topicintro: transcript block at 6036.935 (introduction of START and presenters) - topfinish: transcript block at 7046.175 (vote and adoption details)
