Pubdate: Mon, 04 Jul 2005
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2005 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: John Stevenson, staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

PROGRAM HAS FANS, BUT JUDGE UNSURE

DURHAM -- Many view Durham's trend-setting Youth Treatment Court as a
godsend that can divert young drug users from lives of crime, helping
them overcome addictions and launching them on a path to productive
citizenry. But District Judge Marcia Morey, who presided over the
special court from its inception in 2000 until last year, has a
different perspective. She views the program as an almost superfluous
drain on judicial resources that have long been stretched to the
breaking point.

Morey just completed a study that found that 82 percent of those who
participated in Youth Treatment Court during its first four years have
gotten back into trouble with the law. Three are in jail as murder
suspects. But there is one point on which everyone agrees: The special
court is in financial trouble, threatened with extinction by
tightening purse strings at many levels of government.

A three-year, $435,000 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice
Assistance expires at the end of December and will not be renewed. The
County Commissioners agreed Thursday to shell out $30,000 to continue
the program from January through June 2006, but no one knows what will
happen after that. The court offers residential treatment, intensive
outpatient treatment and even intensive in-home treatment, as needed,
for its young participants. People accused of violent crimes are not
eligible.

Clients must appear before a judge every other week and attend a "life
skills group" during alternate weeks. Drug screenings and home visits
by a counselor are frequent.

So far, 120 youths have entered the special court and 22 have
graduated. The other 98 didn't make it for one reason or another.
Currently, there are 19 participants.

The judge, currently Jim Hill, "assumes the role of confessor,
taskmaster, cheerleader, mentor and sometimes confidant" to the
youths, according to official literature about the program.

"They are MY children," Hill told The Herald-Sun last week. "I get
kind of possessive with them. I want to see them succeed. It hurts me
when they don't." Court officials may be the most consistent, positive
role models that many of the youths have, he said.

"I'd be surprised if any of them have an intact two-parent family,"
Hill said. "It's an unfortunate reality that they come from broken
homes. The lack of a good, strong family is one of their biggest
problems. We become their family."

But he emphasized that he doesn't coddle the youths. "I rake them over
the coals sometimes," he said. "I've been known to fuss at them. We've
booted some out of the program."

Two months ago, he sent about 10 youths to jail for a weekend. " ...
They messed up," Hill said. "We gave them a little quick dip [behind
bars] to get their attention. Sometimes that's all it takes." Still,
he acknowledged that years may pass before officials really know how
much good they've done for the youths. But some signs of improvement
come quickly, he said.

"You can see a visual change in them, the way they dress, their
posture and the way they carry themselves," Hill said. "It's obvious
they acquire more self-respect."

There was another indicator of success Thursday, when a 16-year-old
boy became the 22nd person to graduate from Youth Treatment Court
since it opened in late 2000.

Before entering the special court, the boy reportedly was headed for
"training school," the juvenile equivalent of prison. Officials said
he had stolen a car and was abusing drugs. He got into fights and was
suspended from school. He refused to obey his mother. So the Youth
Treatment Court placed him in a foster home, where he still lives, and
launched a treatment regimen for him.

Now, he is on his school's A-B honor roll, participates in a summer
camp and sings in a church choir.

Juvenile counselor Sheilah Peterkin said the boy would have been lost
without Youth Treatment Court -- and knows it.

"He's appreciative," she said. "He was headed down a very destructive
path. It might not happen right away, but these kids eventually open
up to us. They know we are rooting for them. It makes them try harder.
We put some extra sauce in the recipe, so to speak. We are passionate
about what we do. It's not just a job for us."

Another participant in Youth Treatment Court went on to obtain a high
school equivalency diploma and now attends Durham Technical Community
College. Calvin Vaughan, the court's coordinator, said expectations
and definitions of success may differ from person to person.

For someone who was a chronic truant, it is a sign of success if he
merely begins attending school regularly -- even if he doesn't earn
high grades, Vaughan said.

"We know it's a good thing," Vaughan said of the threatened Youth
Treatment Court. Morey isn't so sure.

According to her just-completed study, 56 youngsters entered the
special court between late 2000, when it opened, and the end of last
year. Forty-six of those youths, or 82 percent, have since gotten into
further trouble with the law, the study showed. It also showed that
eight former court participants were now jailed on murder, robbery and
drug charges, with three facing prosecution for homicide.

Morey, recognized by former Gov. Jim Hunt as one of the state's
leading juvenile justice experts, said she became so discouraged that
she recently stopped presiding over Youth Treatment Court.

"It's an intensive program," she told The Herald-Sun. "It brings kids
into court frequently. It makes parents more accountable. All that is
good. But the long-term impact doesn't appear to be very positive.
That's sad, but we shouldn't keep programs going just because we have
them."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin