Family Reunification Court (FRC)

Welcome to Family Reunification Court

Vision Statement

The mission of Family Reunification Court (FRC) is to help children who have been neglected due to their parent’s use of drugs and/or alcohol get a second chance to have a safe family environment by successful intervention and through holistic treatment and community supported justice system.

Types of Cases Referred

Referrals to the FRC program are initiated by CYFD Caseworkers and/or Investigators or by the Judge.  The program is open to anyone who has a substantiated child abuse/neglect finding or who has an adjudicated dependency case.  The FRC team screens all referrals and the Judge makes the final approval of program participation. For more information on CYFD, please visit: 

http://cyfd.org/

Program Model

Family Reunification Court is an evidence based court-directed family centered program that utilizes community collaboration and multi-disciplinary approaches to provide effective, wrap-around intensive outpatient services with the goal of reunifying children with their parents who are clean and sober. The program consists of four phases and includes outpatient substance abuse treatment, parenting classes and family activities, group and individual counseling, Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), frequent and random drug testing through urinalysis, oral swab testing and portable breathalyzers, home visitation and monthly judicial reviews. For more information on MRT, please visit:

http://www.moral-reconation-therapy.com/

Treatment Provider

The contracted treatment provider for the Family Reunification Court is: NAVA Counseling Services. NAVA is located at 715 E. Idaho, Suite 4B, Las Cruces, NM 88001; the main telephone number is (575) 524-2505. Mr. Lee King, LADAC, NCAC, SAP is the Executive Director. For more information, please visit:

http://www.navacounseling.com/

Family Drug Court Team

The FRC team consists of many individuals, including but not limited to: District Court Judge, FRC Program Director, FRC Court Probation/Surveillance Officer, CYFD Social Workers/Supervisors, Guardian Ad Litem Attorneys, Respondent Attorneys, Assistant District Attorney, CASA Director, Probation and Parole Officers, and NAVA Counseling Services Staff.

Date of Program Inception

September 2004

Judge

The Honorable Fernando R. Macias

Division VIII

Program Administrative Staff Contact Information

Program Director: Katherine Cardon

Phone:  (575) 528-8396

Court Probation Officer: Melissa Ellet

Phone: (575) 523-8298 

Fax: (575) 528-8398

Address: 201 W. Picacho Ave.

               Las Cruces, NM 88005

Court Sessions

Family Reunification Court meets every third Thursday of the month at 11:30am in Courtroom #5.

Links

National Drug Court Institute

http://www.ndci.org/ndci-home/

National Association of Drug Court

Professionals

http://www.nadcp.org/nadcp-home/