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Eleven female drug-court participants looked at current and past experiences to assess their program and envision future program innovations. From these women's perspective, the strongest component of drug court was being surrounded by staff dedicated to their progress and recovery. Graduated supervision and accurate drug testing were appreciated rather than resented when the participants were not humiliated and were treated with respect. Wraparound services, resources, and referral; treatment facilities that accepted children; and individualized treatment plans and therapy with offenders who are ex-addicts, and preferably females, allowed for greater involvement and active participation in recovery. Progressing through three phases, acquiring skills, a job, and visitation rights to see their children or regaining custody, increased these women's sense of self-efficacy perception and confidence in their ability to lead a drug-free, meaningful life. Findings show the importance of qualitative criteria in evaluating drug-court participants' progress and the process of recovery.

BackgroundPrader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a neurogenetic syndrome with an associated behavioural phenotype and a high incidence of behaviours of concern and psychiatric co‐morbidity. These associated behaviours and co‐morbidities are not well addressed by existing interventions, and they impact significantly on affected individuals and their caregivers.MethodsWe undertook a national survey of the needs of individuals with PWS and their families in Ireland. In this paper, we report on the parent/caregiver‐reported mental health, behavioural and access to services.ResultsOver 50% of individuals with PWS in this survey had at least one reported psychiatric diagnosis, the most common diagnosis was anxiety. The most commonly reported behaviours in children were skin picking, repetitive questioning, difficulty transitioning and non‐compliance. The same four behaviours were reported by caregivers as being the most commonly occurring in adolescents and adults in addition to food‐seeking behaviours. Increased needs for mental health services were also reported by caregivers. Individuals with PWS had an average wait of 22 months for an appointment with a psychologist and 4 months for an appointment with a psychiatrist.ConclusionThis study highlighted high levels of psychiatric co‐morbidities and behavioural concerns in individuals with PWS in Ireland. The findings of this study suggest that there is an urgent need to provide specialist psychiatric and behavioural interventions to manage complex mental health and behavioural needs to better support individuals with PWS and reduce caregiver burden.

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