Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 Source: Union Democrat, The (Sonora, CA) Copyright: 2005 Western Communications, Inc Contact: http://uniondemocrat.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/846 Author: Amy Lindblom and Mike Morris Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Series: Meth In The Mother Lode (Part 3c) DRUG COURT A CHALLENGE THAT MANY TAKE Robin Wellmaker came before Calaveras County Drug Court Judge Douglas Mewhinney in late November after she went off the wagon and used meth. Before that, she had been clean for 90 days. "Do you want to remain in drug court?" Mewhinney asked the woman, who was missing several of her teeth. Wellmaker sobbed that she did and Mewhinney warned her that she had one more chance to get her life together. A month later, Wellmaker's drug tests were clean, and she showed Mewhinney five job applications to prove that she was trying to get a job. Wellmaker also told Mewhinney she had a dental appointment the following week to start working on fixing her teeth. "That was her downfall," said substance abuse counselor Deni Keiser. At the dentist, Wellmaker received a bottle of pain-killing Vicodin, which she abused. She lied to the drug court team about her usage, Keiser said. Wellmaker is now behind bars at a women's state prison in Chowchilla. Her story, however, is more the exception than the rule for drug court participants in the Mother Lode, experts say. The programs - an alternative to the regular criminal justice system - are both difficult and successful, said Tuolumne County Drug Court Program Coordinator Robert Finnegan. "Close to 98 percent of the people who successfully complete any type of drug treatment program remain sober and stay out of trouble," said Finnegan, who manages both adult drug court and dependency or family drug court. Success rate The key to drug court's success is constant monitoring from the drug team and a no-excuses stance judges have toward participants who miss a drug test, fail to go to counseling, don't get a job or go back to school, or those who miss a supervised visit with their children. "The judge becomes their parent they either don't have or didn't have," Finnegan said. Drug court, which began in Florida in 1989, is successful when abusers complete the program. However, it isn't easy to change what in some cases is a lifetime of destructive behavior patterns. "It's the hardest thing in the world to do; getting clean and sober," Finnegan said. "These people sometimes have empty lives, and they fill it with methamphetamine." Calaveras County's Drug Court began three years ago and eight people have graduated. There are always 11 participants - the maximum allowed in the program. Tuolumne County's Drug Court began in 1999 and 147 men and women have participated - 76 have graduated, 71 did not and most of those were sent to prison. Money saver Drug courts have saved California close to $43 million in incarceration costs, a state agency said in a report released Wednesday to legislators. The report comes as lawmakers consider changing Proposition 36, approved by voters five years ago, so that it would mimic drug courts by letting judges send offenders to jail for brief periods for violating provisions of their treatment. As approved by 61 percent of voters, Proposition 36 bars any incarceration for first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders. But the Assembly is considering a Senate-approved bill that would let judges employ what's called "flash incarcerations" for Proposition 36 offenders as well as those diverted to drug courts. Senators were swayed by law enforcement concerns, and by studies showing 30 percent of offenders sent to treatment under Proposition 36 never show up and just 24 percent complete their treatment. Wednesday's report by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs found that drug courts reduced substance abuse and saved taxpayers' more than $42.8 million in prison costs between January 2001 and July 2004. The study tracked more than 10,000 adult and juvenile offenders in 46 counties. It calculated that every dollar spent on drug court participants saved $1.31 in prison costs alone, diverting adult offenders from a total of more than 1.1 million days in prison. In addition, offenders completed more than 47,500 hours of community service. Family drug courts reunited more than 600 children with one or both parents, and nearly 700 participants were making regular child support payments, the study found. Of 8,555 adults who participated, 13 percent were homeless when they entered the program, but 80 percent found housing as they went through drug court. It also found 96 percent of adults' urine tests and 90 percent of juveniles' tests showed no drug use during the time they were overseen by the courts. How it works Using meth, selling the drug and especially making it can lead to jail or prison. Some people accused of drug charges can plead guilty to their crimes and a judge sentences them to drug court. Participants sign a contract basically turning their lives over to a team of people expert at getting drug abusers sober: probation officers, judges, social workers and substance abuse counselors. With drug court, participants give up certain civil rights, such as the right to an attorney. If they fail the program, they are usually sentenced to prison. But if a person completes the program, the charges against them are dropped. Mewhinney said drug court's goal is to get people to change lifestyles and attitudes that lead to drug abuse. More than 75 percent of the participants in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties' drug court programs are meth users. The rest abuse prescription drugs, alcohol or other drugs like heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Tuolumne County has both an Adult Drug Court and Dependency Drug Court. Calaveras County has only Adult Drug Court. Some addicts have had their children taken away. Those parents go to dependency drug court, where they both get sober and learn to be better parents. Making nutritious meals and dealing with anger and frustration without resorting to drugs are among topics taught. In adult drug court, Mewhinney said, "Participants have to live in a clean and sober environment, square up with DMV, get medical insurance, obtain steady employment and get their GED if they didn't graduate from high school." Judges and drug court case workers may even give input on jobs and who participants should or shouldn't date. During treatment, participants are tested for drugs or alcohol through random urine testing. If they test "dirty" by having drugs in their system or just don't show up for a test, the judge punishes them immediately with a jail cell for a night or a weekend. Ups and downs Few who enter drug court make it through the entire program without at least one sanction, Finnegan said. During a court appearance, Lisa, a meth user and mother of a 2-year-old girl, didn't show up for a drug test. She told Eric DuTemple, judge of Tuolumne County's Drug Court, her dad died and she just "completely forgot the test." DuTemple wasn't moved. He sent her to jail for the weekend and canceled her court-supervised visit with her daughter. But the judge's attitude was different with John. "You've done marvelous," DuTemple told John as he entered his final weeks of the program. "Given your success and your commitment to sobriety, if nothing else happens then in a month we can release you. I'm real proud of what you've done." John had tears in his eyes when the other members of his drug court group clapped for his success. Commitment to success Drug court is a very labor-intensive program with many people putting in long hours to help addicts. They would rather do that then see addicts continue on a cycle of using, getting arrested, having their children taken away, going to jail, getting released and doing the same thing all over again. "I run into people all the time who, after four or five years, are still sober after completing drug court," Finnegan said. "They have gotten jobs, they have new friends and they are leading good lives. That's the motivation for us to keep these programs running." Added Keiser: "I know in my heart that it works when people are held accountable." The Associated Press contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth