{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-announces-324960-federal-grant-to-support-hillsborough-county", "Kuster Announces $324,960 Federal Grant to Support Hillsborough County Drug Court", "2014-09-16", "2014", "2014-09", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Ann Kuster", "K000382", "kuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NASHUA, N.H. \u2013 This week, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) announced that Hillsborough County will receive a $324,960 federal grant to support an alternative drug court for felony-level offenders. The grant, administered through the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant program, will help finance the diversion court, which enters non-violent, high-risk drug offenders into a court-supervised treatment program rather than traditional prison time. The program was launched last year in Hillsborough County Superior Court South in Nashua, and the grant will help fund the program for the next three years.\n\u201cInstead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, the Hillsborough County Drug Court focuses more on treatment and rehabilitation than on punishment,\u201d Kuster said. \u201cThe goal is to help more drug offenders treat their addiction, and this funding will help keep more people out of prison and in their homes. This model has worked well in drug courts around the country, and it\u2019s wonderful that this great program will be able to continue in Nashua.\u201d\nThe drug court program, similar to others adopted in Cheshire, Grafton, Rockingham and Strafford Counties, among others around the state, consists of substance abuse treatments, weekly court visits, community service and random drug testing, among other requirements. The grant will cover the costs of substance abuse treatment and testing services, among others.\n\u201cI firmly believe that we cannot arrest and incarcerate our way out of the current drug, and resulting crime epidemic,\u201d said Justice Jacalyn Colburn, who oversees the program for Hillsborough County Superior Court.\u00a0 \u201cWe know we won\u2019t have 100 percent success, but well-run drug courts have proven to reduce recidivism by 40 percent over traditional methods.\u00a0 That is good for community safety and good for the participants we serve.\u00a0 Getting this grant will take us one step closer to achieving those goals.\u201d\nSince taking office, Congresswoman Kuster has been a strong supporter of drug, mental health and other diversion courts around the Second Congressional District. Earlier this year, she spoke at the commencement ceremony for the Grafton County Drug Court in North Haverhill, and this spring she wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice in support of the Hillsborough County grant application.\nAdult Drug Court Discretionary grants are awarded by the Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Justice Assistance. Additional information on the program is available here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-announces-324960-federal-grant-to-support-hillsborough-county"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.866210950538516, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}