Recovery Court University (RCU) is an original and unique strategy to expand recovery support and harm reduction-based program offerings to Recovery Court participants. The Recovery Court University concept is an ecological perspective-based program designed to augment the multi-phase program structure currently used in each of the Recovery Courts. The new program is a combination of recovery support and harm reduction evidence-based services offered to participants (i.e., “students”) in a “university-style” atmosphere. The initiative is intended to pique participants’ interests in learning about valuable life skills outside of the traditional therapeutic environment. It is anticipated that by offering clients a different and interesting way of learning, they will want to participate in the program more often, longer, and with greater positive results in the Recovery Court.

Hope Restored Counseling has designed Recovery Court University to be a rolling ten-month program where participants can join classes at any stage of their time in Recovery Court. Recovery Court University will be mandatory for all new Recovery Court admissions. Each partner Recovery Court will determine when participants start Recovery Court University within their program. The RCU curriculum is mutually exclusive, meaning each class component offered is a stand-along topic; there are no prerequisites that participants need to complete before taking any class within the University. Classes will be specific and culturally-sensitive to the target population.

The class structure is intended to enhance recovery support services and provide harm reduction strategies that will be beneficial for students upon completion of their Recovery Court program. Participants must attend 100% of each course in order to get credit for completing that specific course. Participants must attend 80% of the courses in order to graduate Recovery Court University. To ensure accountability of participants’ attendance and completion of each class and course completion, each participant will be required to take and pass (70% or higher) a weekly quiz and provide verification of time within the Learning Management System (Canvas) utilizing an attendance tracker provided by Hope Restored Counseling (One-Tap).

Upon completion of Recovery Court University, it is expected that participants will gain knowledge in the following areas: higher education, job readiness, personal finance, navigating the legal system, health and wellness, medication management, foundations of mental health, healthy relationships, leadership, and understanding personal strengths and weaknesses. Each course will be taught by a university professor or a subject matter expert. Participants will have direct access to the instructors to ask questions or have further discussions to enhance their learning.

This publication was made possible by Grant Number TI085879 from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of SAMHSA.