Pubdate: Mon, 19 Sep 2005
Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2005 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398
Author:  Todd Ruger
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

GETTING TO DRUG COURT MORE THAN A HASSLE

Offenders Forgo Program, Cite Lack Of Transportation

SARASOTA COUNTY -- Drug and alcohol addicts in south Sarasota County forgo 
a drug court program aimed at giving them treatment instead of jail time 
because they have no transportation to required meetings.

The drug court's meetings are in Sarasota. Offenders usually don't have a 
car or driver's license. And bus transportation from cities like Englewood 
and North Port makes it unfeasible for them to get there.

So the drug court's operators are now brainstorming how to bring potential 
drug court clients to Sarasota meetings from South County, where they say 
drug arrests are climbing along with the booming population.

As of last week, 20 of the 68 people enrolled in Sarasota County's 12- 
month drug court program come from South County, officials said. The 
program's current capacity is 120.

Yet at least 22 other abusers in South County cited a lack of 
transportation as the reason they can't do the program.

"We know the demand is there," said David Bennett, a consultant hired by 
the county to reduce the jail's population. "We know we can impact a number 
of people if we get these issues resolved."

The drug court program gives addicts a chance to go through treatment to 
address the underlying problem that led to their arrest, not just spend 
time in jail as a punishment.

Making drug court available to more South County residents could save the 
county money. The end of an addiction could mean the end of the cycle of 
repeated arrests for minor drug- and alcohol-related charges, Bennett said.

The average daily population at the jail has increased 21 percent since the 
beginning of 2005.

Bennett asked drug court officials to provide transportation from South 
County by the end of the year.

Up to four of every 10 people from South County who could qualify for the 
program are deciding against it because of transportation issues, said 
Joanne Miller, the drug court coordinator for the public defender's office.

"I feel like I've lost clients I could have gotten had I had an answer to 
the transportation problem," said Miller, who screens people interested in 
joining drug court.

The first two months of the 12-month program require participants to attend 
education groups three times a week in Sarasota. They're also required to 
meet with a primary counselor once a week and attend a court session every 
Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

"We're talking at least three to four days where they have to be in 
Sarasota," drug court Program Director David Morgan said. "The bus system 
is nonexistent, unfortunately."

One woman from South County couldn't catch a bus early enough to get to 8 
a.m. meetings in Sarasota, Miller said. If the woman went to the 5:30 p.m. 
meetings, the buses stop running so she couldn't get home.

"It's a Catch-22," Miller said of the bus system. "It can't be done; we've 
had people try it."

Another South County man got rides to meetings from his wife but dropped 
out of the program despite his clean drug tests, Miller said. His wife 
can't work and continue driving him to meetings, she said.

Morgan and others at the drug court program are looking into renting buses 
or hiring taxis to bring drug court participants to Sarasota. They are also 
looking into places to hold meetings in Venice.

Eventually, the demand for a drug court will establish its own program in 
the south end of the county, with its own judges, prosecutors, public 
defenders and clerks, Bennett said.

But the county needs to "solidify numbers and get people up here before we 
can talk about a court session down there," he said.

The drug court staff has requested two additional counselors to work in 
South County as part of a budget process within the court system.

Morgan said he has not collected any information on arrests that would 
indicate the future demand for a drug court program in South County.

"We don't even have to obtain numbers, we just know for a fact the arrests 
and drug use is pretty rampant in Sarasota County," Morgan said.

For now, participants can go to South County locations for 12-step meetings 
two to four times per week, providing urine samples on Monday, Wednesday 
and Friday and meeting with a primary counselor once per week.

But they still have to come to face the judge in Sarasota, Miller said.

"It's a drug court. It's a necessity."
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