Treatment Court Coordinator
Monica Horner
Treatment court
coordinator has
numerous duties
By Ted Pennekamp
With a heightened emphasis on curbing addiction in recent years, one of the things Crawford County is doing is creating a treatment court. To that end, the county’s first treatment court coordinator has recently been hired.
Monica Horner, 47, began her duties on April 2 and has been working in Room 102 of the Crawford County Courthouse Building.
“We are hoping to start accepting participants in the treatment court by July,” said Horner, who has been attending training sessions, planning, and doing administrative work in order to help get the treatment court up and running.
Horner said she will be responsible for the oversight of the treatment court program and the coordination of the activities necessary to achieve its overall function in the community.
She noted that the treatment court coordinator provides intake evaluation for prospective participants. She will also develop and implement a case management system, create each participant’s contract, establish a goal plan for each participant and handle confidentiality/releases of information and coordination of treatment resources.
Horner will also refer participants to contracted treatment agencies best suited for their needs, collaborate with treatment providers to ensure community resources and services needs match desired program outcomes, develop links with law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, public defender’s office, services providers and the department of corrections to improve supervision and agency coordination.
The treatment court coordinator also monitors participant compliance, identifies trends and provides a basis for ongoing evaluation of both the individual client and the program as a whole.
Each participant’s ancillary needs in the areas of medical, dental, educational, skills training and employment training and placement will be addressed by the treatment court.
Crises and short-term intervention for participants may also take place on occasion.
Horner received her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Idaho and her master’s in criminal justice at Washington State University. She knows the criminal justice system well, having worked for 20 years with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Horner has lived for 20 years in Prairie du Chien.
Horner said that the treatment court is an alternative to incarceration and will help participants fight addiction and get back to becoming productive community residents.
Crawford County received a $100,000 treatment court grant from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The grant is for $75,000 and the county will make an in-kind contribution of $25,000, which can be offset by cost savings and other benefits for the county because the offenders are not in jail, for example. The grant will likely be renewed each year for five years. After five years, the treatment court will be on its own financially.
In addition to Horner, the treatment court will consist of a team including Judge Lynn Rider, the district attorney, a defense attorney, a probation and parole representative, a law enforcement representative and a treatment provider, who will be a person who is certified in alcohol or other drug abuse (AODA) treatment to oversee the treatment of each participant.
The team will meet every other week to discuss the progress of each participant and the progress of the treatment court.
Treatment court is for high-risk individuals who really need treatment. It is for people who are facing substantial jail time or prison.
