Reimagining Responses to Impaired Driving

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James Eberspacher is the director of the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC). NCDC is a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) providing training and technical assistance to DWI court professionals. Mr. Eberspacher’s background in treatment court includes experience at the state and local levels. For seven years, he was the state treatment court coordinator for the State of Minnesota, providing oversight in forming treatment court policy and strategic planning, state standards, funding, assisting in research, and providing training and technical assistance to treatment court teams. Prior to his role at the state level, he served as the coordinator on three treatment court teams in rural Minnesota. In his current position, he is responsible for NCDC's overall daily operations, training, curriculum development, outreach, and promoting the expansion of DWI courts. Overall, Mr. Eberspacher has over two decades of combined experience in treatment courts, corrections, policy development, and training/technical assistance.

Jessica Lange is a project director for the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC), a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). While serving as a treatment court coordinator in Minnesota, Ms. Lange led her team to an Academy Court designation. In addition, she obtained grant funding to facilitate a series of training events for all of Minnesota’s DWI court teams that included top speakers in the treatment court training and research arena, directed a substantial federal grant that allowed for many groundbreaking advancements for people suffering from addiction in her community, partnered with other local agencies to focus on community alcohol education, and assisted in creating a sober ride program. Ms. Lange also served as operations analyst for the Sixth Judicial District in Minnesota, where she worked to enhance eight treatment courts, focusing on extensive grant work, training, and data and research. She received her bachelor’s degree from Hamline University, where she studied law and criminal justice, and a master’s degree in business administration with a focus on leadership and change from the College of St. Scholastica. Ms. Lange has dedicated her career to being an advocate of change for those suffering from addiction in the justice system.

Julie Seitz, LGSW, LADC, is a project director for the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC), a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). She joined NCDC in 2018, bringing with her 20 years of experience working in the clinical sector. Previously, she was the clinical director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Duluth, Minnesota. Additionally, she spent 10 years as a treatment provider for the Minnesota Sixth Judicial District DWI and mental health courts. She has spent the last 20 years of her career giving clients a voice. In her work with clients, she has focused her clinical practice on feedback-informed research and outcome-driven practice. Ms. Seitz has trained at the local, national, and international levels on feedback-informed treatment, drug court best practices, and the science of addiction.