5. Graduate from DTC

After you have completed a year of the Drug Treatment Court (DTC) program, you can apply for graduation. But for many people, it will take much longer than 12 months. Many people do not graduate from DTC because it is a long, difficult program.

To decide if you can graduate, your treatment team looks at:

• Did you participate in and complete all parts of treatment?
• Did you get appropriate housing?
• Did you get a job, go back to school, or complete appropriate volunteer work?
• Have you been clean from all drugs, including alcohol and marijuana, for 3 months or longer?
• Did you have any new criminal cases in the 3 months before your graduation date?

If your treatment team approves your graduation, the judge will give you a suspended sentence. A suspended sentence is a criminal conviction with probation. You'll be on probation for 1 to 3 years with DTC conditions similar to your bail. You must continue to go to court to report on your progress, usually once per month.

If you don't follow your probation conditions, you can be charged and arrested. If you're having trouble with your recovery, the judge can change any probation conditions. For example, they may change your treatment or make you attend court more often.