The Miami-Dade Juvenile Drug Court and Adult Drug Court judges and staff recently hosted a delegation of 65 judges, attorneys, probation officers, psychiatrists, and other treatment staff from Mexico, who visited the Miami-Dade Courts to observe Drug Court hearings and learn how Drug Court is staffed. The purpose of the visit was to exchange information on best practices and help bridge the gap between theory and practice.

During their time at the Miami-Dade Courts, the Mexican delegation also visited The Village, an adult residential treatment facility; Here's Help, a juvenile and young adult residential treatment facility; Jessie Trice Community Health Center/Reeves House, an adult residential treatment facility, and the Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC), the first place where a minor’s case is evaluated when they are facing charges.

The Nov. 30^th to Dec. 1^st visit was the most recent information exchange program resulting from a long-time collaboration between Judge Orlando Prescott, administrative judge of the Juvenile Division, and the United States Office of American States (OAS). In past years, the Miami-Dade Courts’ Juvenile Drug Court Team has hosted delegations from other nations, and has traveled to Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean nations to deliver presentations on drug courts.

The participants in the visit by the Mexican delegates were: Judge Orlando Prescott, Judge Jeri Beth Cohen, and the Drug Court program coordinator Clarisa Linares, Ashley Wiggins and Kiani Chica. Also participating were Assistant State Attorney Alberto Manrara, Assistant Public Defender Donna Fields, and Ms. Veronica Wade, with the Miami-Dade Public Schools/Juvenile Justice Support Program. Multi-Dimensional Family Therapist Doris Perdomo-Johnson  and Department of Juvenile Justice Representatives Irving Jackson and Carlos Coronado also participated.