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." - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman