Pubdate: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 Source: Standard-Examiner (UT) Copyright: Ogden Publishing Corporation, 2000 Contact: P.O. Box 951 Ogden, UT 84402 Website: http://www.standard.net/ Forum: http://www1.standard.net/utah_central/forums.asp Author: D. Louise Brown DRUG COURT REDUCES REPEAT OFFENDERS Use drugs, get caught, do time. It's the traditional method used to deal with those who abuse drugs. However, nearly 75 percent of users sent through that system repeated the cycle of use, arrest and imprisonment. But a change is underway. A new drug court in its second year in Davis County's 2nd District Court is showing astonishing results. Officials now estimate that nationwide more than 90 percent of drug court participants have not repeated the cycle of use. Every Tuesday at 9 a.m. Judge Jon M. Memmott presides over drug court. One by one, former drug users stand before him and give an accounting of their week. Sometimes Memmott is smiling; sometimes he is not. At times, he's chastising, or even grimly handing down an order for incarceration. The court is an aggressive program designed to help addicts rehabilitate themselves. It's no picnic. Participants must get a job, end relationships with other users, spend evenings in intensive counseling sessions and submit to drug tests. Those associated with the new court say Memmott is behind its success. Yet, even he was skeptical at first. "When I first heard of it, I understood it conceptually. But when I sat in on a drug court and saw what was happening, I was sold." At first Memmott ran the program concurrently with the regular method of rehabilitation. As an ultimate test to the system, he kicked it off with a challenging group. His faith in the people and the new system paid off. "It shows how resilient people are. There's still a lot of good in a lot of people. Basically, most people want to do good," he said. The process begins when an individual is selected for drug court. Drug dealers and those with violent records are not considered. Neither are first-time offenders. "First-time offenders are often just experimenting. We don't want to use our resources on them. We're targeting those with a prior drug use conviction," Memmott said. The process begins with a guilty plea. The required guilty pleas are held "in abeyance," meaning if the user successfully completes the one-year course, the plea is dismissed. The treatment plan consists of four phases. In the first phase, orientation, legal counseling and drug testing through urinalysis occurs. The user has two weeks to decide if participation will continue. In the second phase, the participant is channeled into one of several levels of programs available, including intensive outpatient care, day treatment, or residential care. Drug testing is done randomly, three to four times a week. Attendance of treatment classes, three-hour counseling sessions and employment are required. Plus the participant must attend Tuesday morning drug court sessions with Memmott. Phase three involves a continuation of classes, drug testing twice a week, community service, continued employment, a bi-weekly court date and other selected activities learning a skill, obtaining a GED, or some other form of education. A participant who makes it to phase four continues the meetings and classes, goes to drug court monthly, develops an after-care program and submits to continued drug tests. A graduate must have six months of negative drug tests and complete all other requirements. While Memmott presides over drug court, an assembly of other professionals contribute their services to the court's success. This team designs a personal program for each participant. Jim Kelly, drug court coordinator and former employee of Davis County Mental Health for 25 years, said: "This is the most effective thing I've seen in 31 years. It helps people get their feet on the ground. It works." Kelly coordinates participants with counselors and programs. "The very nature of addiction is denial. Addicts always look for someone else to blame," Kelly said. "A person can't treat a problem until he admits he has it. "We can get the drugs out of their body in a week. But it takes longer to change what's between their ears. They have to reach a point where they're more comfortable without the drugs than they are with them," Kelly said. Both Kelly and Memmott stress to participants that honesty is the most important thing in drug court. And they agree that when a participant has a relapse, it's still salvageable, if the participant is honest. Sometimes a relapse results in jail time. Sometimes it's additional assignments. "We have a number of sanctions, increasing in severity depending on how far along they are," Kelly said. "We're not trying to throw them out. We're going to keep on trying with them." "In drug court we know them each as an individual," Memmott said. "There is a close relationship. I want them to succeed. When they fail, it's a little personal. If they fail, you feel like you've failed. In the previous system, Memmott said, the people he saw in his court were a name on a folder. "This method is unique, because the traditional method requires judges to keep impartial, separated from them. In this setting, I have the information I need to help them. I know their families, their problems, how they're doing in school." Memmott meets with the court's team an hour before Drug Court. Representatives from numerous law enforcement entities, counselors, and attorneys sit together to counsel on each participant's progress. Suggestions for handling problems flow freely among the group. When Memmott walks into court, he's prepared. "I thank God for everything Memmott's done for me," said Corey Nalder, Clearfield. "This is basically my last chance. The judge is supportive of me, and that's made me want to make him proud." Nalder's story reads like so many others. With two prior arrests, the 31-year-old man was a prime candidate for drug court. He was addicted, and had no way out of the cycle. Most of all, he wanted help. Nalder's time before the judge was short as he reported his week's activities. He and the judge mulled over a new living arrangement. The session ended as they all do. "How many days clean, Corey?" Memmott asked. "One hundred and twelve days," Nalder said. The audience applauded. Memmott sees more than 70 people each week, and anticipates that with a recent $2 million allocation from the Legislature, that number will double. Perhaps the biggest change in the drug court system is the man in the robes. Memmott said his role is no longer designed to punish. He has become an advocate and to many a friend. "I have a cell phone I carry with me. We don't wait two weeks to make a decision. Sometimes I get a call at 2 a.m., because that's when the person is in need," he said. "It's a story that needs to be told. As a judge, it's the most rewarding thing I've done, because I'm making a bigger difference here than anything else I've done. These people's lives are really being changed." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea