By WMBD TV

MCLEAN COUNTY – The McLean County Circuit Courthouse will be able to put more funding to keep families together thanks to a new grant.

The county’s Family Treatment Court received a $750,000 federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to establish a family treatment court for adults who are mired in legal issues within McLean County and also at risk of losing their children due to substance use issues.

The court’s creation has been in the works for two years and included trips to Indiana and Iowa, states which have robust family treatment court programs.

While problem-solving courts such as mental health court, veterans court and drug court are commonplace within the state. family treatment courts are largely non-existent. The county said they strove to be there for those who needed such service.

“By providing comprehensive services overseen by a multidisciplinary team, coupled with frequent court appearances and the ability to monitor a parent’s progress in real time, the goal is to address failures more quickly in order to complete tasks in the case plan (and get the parent back on track), and incentivize progress where appropriate, ultimately resulting in more successful completions of treatment and reunifications,” the county said in a news release.

Other organizations that are part of the program include Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Carle BroMenn, The Center for Youth and Family Solutions and The Baby Fold.

McLean County is one of 10 grantees in the United States to receive funding.

The first participant was accepted into the program on Oct. 16.

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