Pubdate: Tue, 20 May 2003 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 2003 The Sacramento Bee Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376 Author: Mareva Brown, Bee Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) TEENS ON DRUGS -- WHAT TO DO Experts On Addiction Question Whether Therapy Is Always The Right Way To Go. "Tyler" is a 17-year-old father with temper-control problems that sometimes get him kicked out of drug-reform school. He and his 14-year-old sister, "Haley," started using drugs heavily over the past couple of years as their mother began slowly succumbing to cancer. "Jamie" is a 16-year-old methamphetamine addict with huge blue eyes and a healthy fear of her mother's abusive boyfriend, who was recently released from prison. Obviously, these children have more to worry about in their lives than their arrests and the court's pronouncement that they are drug addicts -- a fact that has not escaped Placer County Juvenile Court Administrator John Ross, who agreed to allow the teens to be interviewed if their real names were not used. Ross and judges in juvenile drug courts across the country are trying to find the right approach to turn around teenagers who also are substance abusers. Diverting troubled teens into drug courts is a growing trend, spawned by the huge success of adult drug courts, which force addicts to choose between staying clean and in treatment, or losing their freedom or their children. Yet experts who have studied addiction know that focusing exclusively on drug therapy is not always the answer for teenagers, because adolescents often use drugs for reasons that are very different from adults'. "Whether drugs are the cause or the effect of their lack of self-esteem and lack of success, I'm not prepared to say," said Kenneth G. Peterson, Sacramento County's presiding Juvenile Court judge. Drug use "is definitely present in a high number of (criminal) cases." In Sacramento, a task force headed by Peterson and Juvenile Court Administrator Carol Chrisman is in the midst of deciding whether to launch a delinquency drug court, and if so, which children to target and what strategy to use to help them. Sacramento, one of 40 jurisdictions tapped by federal officials to study the feasibility of juvenile drug courts, is expected to formalize its plan in August. In the adult version, judges encourage addicts to stop using by offering them intensive treatment instead of jail. Participants are tested frequently, with the threat of going to jail hanging over them if they relapse. Especially effective have been drug courts for adults whose children have been taken into protective custody. But researchers say that type of approach doesn't work well with juveniles, who are more rebellious by nature and may not have enough life perspective to respond to any reward. Beyond that, researchers aren't even sure children who use drugs frequently can be classified as addicts. "We need a lot more research about how to diagnose adolescents who are voluntarily using drugs versus those who have lost control over the use of the drug," said Carlton K. Erickson, director of the Addiction Science Research and Education Center at the University of Texas, Austin. "We can't tell the difference. So we tend to take any kid who refuses to stop using drugs, and we assume they're dependent." For that reason, some researchers say forcing juveniles into punitive programs that emphasize drug "treatment" could backfire. "A lot of their drug use may be behavioral acting out rather than dependency," said Caroline Cooper, a researcher at American University, which has a federal grant to collect data on the nation's drug courts. "So you can do more harm than good by putting them into treatment programs instead of trying to deal with their problems." Because young drug users haven't had enough years to develop entrenched patterns of drug behavior, some researchers believe it is wrong to use the label "addict" on any adolescent. "No matter how you cut it, even an adolescent who has been using for quite a while can all of a sudden at 25 turn and go another direction," said Guy Howard Klopp, who oversees drug addiction programs for Sacramento County's alcohol and drug services agency. "They haven't bottomed out yet," said Dan Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a national advocacy group. "Even though kids may be using heavily, it generally is not the extreme situation that you see with adults." Experts have found that most teens entering drug court need help with behavioral and mental health issues. Cooper said that is why programs with strict and punitive designs, for example those that force teens to spend long sessions several times a week in group therapy, are less likely to work. Those that do appear to have success, she said, are designed to help children fit in with their peers. For example, Juvenile Court Judge Carolyn Williams requires wards of her court in Kalamazoo, Mich., to go to the local YMCA for two hours a week. The goal is twofold: to get children to learn to work together in team sports activities, and to give them the opportunity to have physical victories. In Missoula, Mont., the Juvenile Court has forged a relationship with the recreation department, creating an Outward-Bound type program that forces teenagers to work together to succeed. "The idea is that every child should feel they can accomplish," Cooper said. Placer County officials use a combination of mental health therapists and other professionals to help teens in drug court straighten out their lives. Counselors say Tyler and Haley are making good progress in the program. Tyler recently quit smoking, and he's talking to counselors about the difficulty he has in controlling his temper. His sister is staying clean and trying to keep her brother on the right path. Counselors have been updating Ross on their mother's worsening medical condition. But Tyler still has issues to work through. As he sits in a row of chairs reserved for Juvenile Hall wards, Ross reads through his file. "I know there's a lot going on in your life right now," the court administrator tells Tyler, after a brief lecture about his indiscretions. "So if there's anything we can do to help, let us know." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom