Drug court gives kids a chance

Sit in on a session of Mahoning County's Juvenile Drug Court and you'll see kids who look just like yours or mine. As they stand before the magistrate, flanked by a team of counselors, a probation officer, and parents, their appearance is neat and clean; their demeanor is quiet and respectful.
But these teenagers have pleaded guilty to felonies. They likely were arrested for robbery at gunpoint or drug trafficking. They're probably recovering alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, OxyContin or heroin addicts.
It's likely, however, that once they graduate from the drug court program, they won't be back. None of drug court's 29 graduates since the court's inception three years ago has had repeat offenses.
Beats average,'knock on wood'
That zero percent recidivism rate is superior to the national average for drug courts, which boast only 30 percent of their graduates are arrested again.
"Knock on wood," said Lura Harris Jr., a probation officer with the program and a 26-year employee of the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. "[Drug court] keeps people here and resolves it here, rather than spending money to send [children] to an institution." The key, Harris said, is the family.
Drug court uses a three-phase program which combines rehabilitation, treatment, counseling, home visits, education, court visits, and family involvement to get -- and keep -- children out of the juvenile court system.
While the potential benefit is high, the cost to the county has been low.
Harris, Judge Theresa Dellick (who was instrumental in launching our juvenile drug court) and Magistrate Donna McCollum participate as part of their current job descriptions. Staff members were even sent to an accreditation training seminar in New Orleans (one of the first cities to institute a drug court) without cost to the county, courtesy of a Swanston Foundation grant.
Amount of timeit takes varies
The time it takes drug court to help a child varies. The shortest involvement so far has been nine months, the longest, two years. "The difference is you don't have the revolving door," Harris said. "It takes longer on the front end, but they don't come back."
Phase one is orientation and intake, McCollum said. It requires evaluation of the problems, then drug rehab and counseling (paid for by private insurance or Medicaid) and weekly court appearances.
"Kids are placed on house arrest with an 8 p.m. curfew unless with a parent. They have to earn days off, and those are weekdays, not weekends. They earn it with good attendance and behavior at school, appropriate behavior at [drug rehab], and we hear from parents," Judge Dellick said.
Phase one's weekly meetings before a magistrate include the child, parents, counselors and the probation officer. In this way, everyone can compare progress openly.
Phase two focuses on making sure families are learning to function with less court intervention. Phase Three requires court visits only every third week and attempts to help graduates-to-be with direction for the future and job hunting skills, and parents with parenting classes.
In all phases, if there are problems, the participating child may be sanctioned with such penalties as electronic monitoring, increased house arrest, no prom, or having to write a paper and having to present it. Detention time is also a possibility.
What a child getsin return for program
In return for completing the drug court program, a child has his or her arrest removed from the records. It is a chance to start again -- drug free and without a criminal record. If a child doesn't complete the program, they "do jail time and pay fines and fees," the judge said.
"Sometimes children who abuse drugs have parents who abuse drugs," she said. Other issues may be involved as well, such as mental illness or sexual abuse -- issues that can only be resolved by family involvement.
"Simply locking a child up doesn't change drug addiction, & quot; Judge Dellick said. "A child gets healed then comes back into that tornado. To change a child, you have to work with the family." Drug court is proving the success of that approach.
murphy@vindy.com