Officials in Island County Superior Court hope to put their share of money from the county’s Mental Health Sales Tax Initiative to work soon.

Court Administrator Mike Merringer said he plans to get a family treatment court up and running by the end of the year. He said it will be similar to the adult and youth drugs courts, but it’s a civil rather than a criminal matter.

“Our goal is to improve outcomes for children and their families,” he said.

The family treatment court will be an option for a parent who wants to regain full custody of a child when there’s allegations of abuse or neglect. It’s an alternative to the traditional dependency-court process for a parent who has a drug or alcohol abuse problem.

“The overall goal is faster unification or another permanent situation for the child,” said Channing Gredvig, the current drug court coordinator. He will switch jobs to facilitate the family treatment court.

“Our interest is in the child. The safety and welfare of the child,” he added.

It’s serious business. Gredvig said a large number of professionals will be involved. The treatment court team is made up of a court-appointed special advocate for the child (CASA), two representatives from the state’s Division of Children and Family Services, an attorney from the State Attorney General’s Office, the parent’s attorney, two mental health providers, and the coordinator.

In addition, a court commissioner will act as a judge.

Carla Grau-Egerton, the program coordinator for the Island County CASA program, said the immediate focus of the program is to encourage and support the parent toward sobriety. But she’s found that in dependency cases there’s often other issues that go along with substance abuse, most predominantly mental health problems and domestic violence.

“It’s the stressors in a family that cascade into abuse or neglect,” she said.

The court may require a parent to do such things as attend treatment, find employment, go to parenting classes, stay off drugs or meet other conditions. The parent receives near-constant support and supervision with weekly hearings.

Drug courts have been shown to be extremely effective in reducing the chances that an offender will commit another crime, and in doing so, the courts save the taxpayers a lot of money.

“I’ve seen drug courts become life-changing events,” Gredvig said.

The program will be funded by the sales tax initiative the county commissioners adopted last fall to raise money for chemical dependency and mental health treatment services.