from left, President Bill Chris and Judge Brett Spencer
News Release
The Innovative Court Programs and Practices Award, sponsored by the Ohio Bar Judicial Administration and Innovation Committee, seeks to highlight and bring greater visibility to exemplary programs in Ohio’s courts and to facilitate the transfer of those programs to other jurisdictions. Award submissions are evaluated on criteria including creativity, the newness of the program, its effectiveness and whether the program addresses significant issues that are regional in scope.
For this year’s honoree, the name says it all. “Operation: Better Together,” led by Judge Brett Spencer, is a community collaborative effort through which the Adams County Court of Common Pleas has built strong bridges between local agency and community partners to raise awareness and better connect vulnerable, at-risk
and justice-involved populations with a wide array of wraparound services they need to get back on their feet and achieve lifelong success.
The beauty of it is there has been no additional cost to the community to implement the program, just better coordination and alignment among the courts, probation, law enforcement, schools, workforce development, the local health department, behavior and substance use disorder treatment providers and other relevant agencies and community organizations to ensure no one falls through the cracks.
President Chris said: “Serving a small, rural community facing high rates of poverty and residents who struggle with drug abuse and mental illness, that common-sense resourcefulness of Judge Spencer and his team has saved lives and provides a model for other courts and counties.”
