Nashua Drug Court Treatment Program
Choosing Recovery Over Incarceration
Greater Nashua Mental Health has been the provider of services for the Recovery Court program since 2014.
This program helps divert individuals who would otherwise be facing incarceration into a comprehensive mental health and substance use specialized treatment program designed to minimize the chance of recidivism while providing effective ongoing community support tools for building lasting recovery.
Who Is Eligible?
Most prospective clients have long histories of involvement in the justice involved system and have served jail and prison sentences for felonies.
A significant number of prospective clients have co-occurring mental health disorders. This means they must navigate substance misuse alongside an additional mental health diagnosis, which makes the road to recovery more challenging.
Many prospective clients meet the official definition of being unhoused, often navigating highly unstable living situations like couch surfing or sleeping in their cars. In addition to housing instability, most are in urgent need of routine medical care but lack access to regular treatment. Consequently, they receive medical attention only during acute crises, which often leads to costly visits to the local hospital Emergency Department. By addressing these critical barriers, our program connects participants to consistent healthcare and stable support systems, moving them out of emergency rooms and onto a secure path toward long-term recovery.
Additional stressors in prospective clients’ lives may include unemployment, lack of education, losing custody of children, and the destruction of beneficial relationships with family members and supportive friends.
How Does It Work?
The Recovery Court program is a partnership built on accountability, expanding an individual’s recovery capital, and building the internal strengths, social support, and community resources needed to thrive. Participants actively engage in their treatment plans and work toward personal recovery goals.
To foster long-term success, the court celebrates progress and milestones. If a participant experiences a setback or challenge, the court uses service adjustments, remedial support, and structured accountability to guide them back forward safely.
- Collaborative Care: Clients work alongside a team of psychiatrists, therapists, probation officers, peer support specialists, and case managers to build personal recovery capital. Together, they follow an evidence-based care plan that often begins with an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), requiring approximately 3 hours of daily clinical care, 3 days per week.
- Accountability Check-Ins: Clients attend weekly court check-ins and meet regularly with their dedicated case manager to evaluate goals, celebrate progress, and adjust wrap-around services.
- Long-Term Journey: Every path to wellness is unique, and most participants stay in the program for about 18 to 24 months to build a lasting foundation for health.
Evolving Therapy To Meet Evolving Needs
As clients build stability and their need for intensive substance use care decreases, their treatment plans shift to focus on long-term whole-person wellness. We adapt our services to meet their changing needs by connecting them with specialized psychiatric care and mental health therapy. This includes supportive group sessions that use cognitive behavioral approaches to help manage co-occurring conditions, process emotions, and build healthy thinking patterns.
To sustain their progress, clients are assigned a peer support specialist from Revive Recovery while in the program. Additionally, clients are encouraged to engage with community-led recovery networks (e.g., AA, NA, or Smart Recovery) and attend regular medical healthcare appointments. We actively connect participants with local community partners to help them secure stable housing, pursue further education, and find meaningful employment, strengthening their foundation for a thriving life.
Why It Works
Without the Recovery Court program, many clients would face long-term incarceration due to repeated legal offenses stemming from unmanaged health conditions. Decades of independent research and recent state data prove that specialized treatment courts successfully break the cycle of crime while saving public tax dollars.
Data shows that treating substance use and mental health conditions is far more effective than traditional punishment:
- Drastically Lowering Repeat Offenses: On average, the first-year recidivism (re-offending) rate for individuals leaving a treatment court program is only 16 percent, and it remains remarkably low at just 27 percent by the second year. In contrast, traditional probation often falls short; 46 percent of individuals on conventional probation commit a new offense, and over 60 percent commit a probation violation.
- Long-Term Safety and Crime Prevention: Nationwide, 75% of treatment court graduates remain entirely arrest-free for at least two years after leaving the program. Long-term studies show these reductions in crime last anywhere from 3 to 14 years. Ultimately, rigorous scientific data concludes that treatment courts reduce crime by up to 45 percent more than traditional sentencing options like prison.
- Significant Financial Cost Savings: Replacing prison cells with healthcare is highly cost-effective for local taxpayers. By keeping individuals out of jail, reducing police response times, and lowering emergency room use, treatment court programs generate direct community cost savings of $3,000 to $13,000 per client.
The Benefits for Graduates
Program graduation marks a profound personal transformation where participants reclaim their lives as thriving, independent members of the community. Through the development of lasting recovery capital, graduates secure stable housing, achieve steady employment, and often pursue higher education. This foundation of wellness helps them heal broken relationships, reunite with loved ones, and often regain custody of their children. By learning to manage their finances responsibly, they support their families and pay down past debts. Most importantly, graduates break free from the perpetual cycle of survival, build a deep sense of self-worth, and step into a hopeful, responsible adult life.
A reality that many are experiencing for the very first time.
