Family Accountability and Recovery Court is up and running in the 8th District

Keeping children safe and helping families become healthy is at the heart of the 8th District Family Accountability and Recovery Court (FARC).  This district wide family drug court is held in Lenoir, Wayne, and Greene Counties and is overseen by Judge Beth Heath, Chief District Court Judge of the 8th Judicial District.  Judge Heath, along with both judicial and community team members strive to help families dealing with substance use issues have positive outcomes.

Devastating statistics show that in the past year over 375 children have been involved with the district courts due to abuse, neglect or dependency.  Based on district wide statistics of previous years, over 70% of those children likely come from homes where there was substance misuse.  The 8th District Family Accountability and Recovery Court (FARC) is diligently working to help parents and caretakers take positive steps towards a substance free life so that families can begin to heal.    

The Family Accountability and Recovery Court is a positive and supportive environment where parents meet with a collaborative team that can help them address their needs as they are hopefully on the road to recovery.   FARC helps address child maltreatment, parental substance disorders, and parenting needs by providing treatment, intensive case management, and judicial supervision to those parents who struggle with substance abuse, and who are at risk or already have lost custody of their children.  The presence of these additional services will hopefully increase the likelihood of reunification among families, and/or other positive outcomes for the parents and children.

We want the community to know we are here and there is a safety net in place to help keep children safe and help those struggling with substance use to find the needed resources as they choose the road to recovery.  

 For more information, please contact your local Department of Social Services.