FCCG training provides guidance to law enforcement, probation and police officers, judges, and attorneys regarding problem gambling impacts and solutions.
Excessive gambling places a hardship on our legal and prison systems given the frequency of theft, embezzlement, fraud, and other crimes committed. More often than not, police, probation and correction officers, as well as attorneys, public defenders, prosecutors, judges and the criminal justice system as a whole are not familiar with the mental health disorder of "pathological gambling" and/or the impacts resulting from such a diagnosis that lead to crime.
For example, it is not uncommon that an attorney or judge will be unaware that a person's gambling addiction resulted in the sale of drugs that was the cause of the crime, or for probation officers to understand the importance of excluding individuals in certain situations from frequenting gambling establishments, or for police officers to recognize the need to inquire and document gambling as the possible cause of many other police investigations such as domestic violence. The FCCG training provides these and other necessary insights and offers guidance to professionals in these arenas to understand when to apply the gambling standard, what to do in these situations, and where to go for assistance.
The FCCG training also develops and presents site-specific gambling screens for various correctional facilities, police departments, probation officers, attorneys and others to use as part of their intake process to ensure that clients are being questioned about their gambling habits and to learn whether there was any relationship to the crime. Further, it outlines the essential components for implementing an in-house gambling addiction program comprised of self-help and professional supports.
The Council is working to establish collaborative relationships with judges and others within the court system as a means of aiding persons falling subject to crime in order to "cope" with the increased pressures of a gambling habit. The agency has also been advocating the need for the judicial system to develop and institute a "Gambling Court" in Florida, as is done in New York and elsewhere, similar in philosophy to Drug Court, and is working with judges and others to bring such a program to Florida.
To learn more about FCCG options in this area and/or to schedule a presentation or training session, call our HelpLine (
