Purpose
To encourage the broad integration of the problem-solving philosophy into the administration of justice to improve court processes and outcomes while preserving the rule of law.

To encourage judges to take a proactive role, using a non-adversarial, coordinated strategy to problem-solving while creating an environment where participants are encouraged to take responsibility for change.

Statement of Principles

The committee’s mission is dedicated to assisting courts in developing new techniques to improve outcomes. Our purpose is to provide a support system for all problem-solving courts, both criminal and civil, in which the following principles are fulfilled:

• To encourage the broad integration of problem-solving philosophies and new initiatives into the administration of justice in Indiana to improve court processes and outcomes while preserving the rule of law.
• To identify ways to incorporate problem-solving theories into mainstream courts.
• To encourage judges to take a proactive role, on and off the bench, using a team-based non-adversarial approach to address the underlying problems of defendants, encouraging them to make positive changes in their lives while holding them accountable for their decisions.
• To utilize the authority of the bench to positively affect a defendant’s conduct.
• To assist participants in developing skills that will allow them to live within community standards and be personally successful.
• To identify ways the participant can develop further responsibility and competency through education, counseling, employment, and other programs available in the community.
• To promote and encourage problem-solving techniques to gain favorable outcomes within the court system.
• To promote within each court the support system to collect and evaluate data to show successes.
• To develop a catalog of existing and potential problem-solving initiatives.

Members