Edmonton Drug Treatment & Community Restoration Court

5th Annual Celebration EDTCRC Community Day
March 3, 2011 from 1 - 4 pm
GUEST SPEAKER: RALPH MOAR JUNIOR
Get more information and register today!

The Edmonton Drug Treatment and Community Restoration Court, or “EDTCRC” is intended to reduce drug-related crime through innovative approaches to dealing with offenders. The principles behind this program include recognized drug treatment court concepts, the concept of problem-solving courts, and restorative justice.

The program has responded to local issues and concerns related to drug abuse and crime in the Edmonton capital region, as summarized:

  1. There are an estimated 4,000 injection drug users in Edmonton (Source: Injection Drug Use in Edmonton’s Inner City, Cameron Wild, Ph.D.; et al, August 2003)

  2. Cocaine addiction - AADAC sees more than 3200 adult Edmonton clients annually seeking counselling for cocaine addiction (Source: AADAC)

  3. Recently, methamphetamine use has escalated in Edmonton, and has fuelled an increase in property crime (including identity theft). (Source: Drugs in Edmonton - A Look at Substance Abuse, Intelligence Analysis Unit, Edmonton Police Service - March 2004)

  4. Child poverty in Edmonton - in 2002, 18% of Edmonton children lived in poverty compared to 14.8% in Calgary and compared to13.3% in Alberta.  Aboriginal children, as well as children in visible minority and immigrant families are two to three times as likely as the general population to be living in poverty - child poverty rate among aboriginal identified in Alberta - 35.8% (Source: Statistics Canada -Income Trends in Canada, 2002)
 
The Edmonton Drug Treatment and Community Restoration Court was developed by a partnership of:
  1. Provincial Court of Alberta
  2. Justice Canada 
  3. Alberta Justice and Attorney General
  4. Alberta Solicitor General; and,
  5. Strategic Planning Committee.
The program operates within the Provincial Court of Alberta.
The EDTCRC receives funding from the Federal Department of Justice as part of Canada’s Drug Strategy. All basic costs in maintaining and operating a court are provided by the Province of Alberta. The main actors, such as prosecutors and defence lawyers receive their salaries and fees in the normal course of business. Additional funding is provided by the Province of Alberta.
 
Initial federal funding for the current program expired March 31, 2009 but has been extended until March 31, 2012. The Edmonton John Howard Society serves as the financial sponsor and administers the funds. Edmonton JHS succeeded the Edmonton Community Foundation in this role in April 2007, and the program expresses its gratitude to the Edmonton Community Foundation for its work and dedication in assistance to the EDTCRC.