Pubdate: Mon, 24 Dec 2007
Source: Mount Vernon News (OH)
Copyright: 2007 Progressive Communications
Contact:  http://www.mountvernonnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4007
Author: Anton Hepler, News Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

JUVENILE DRUG COURT PROGRAM ADDRESSING GROWING NEED

MOUNT VERNON - According to court officials, there are 24 juveniles 
enrolled in the Knox County Juvenile Drug Court Program for various 
drug-related crimes. This represents the highest level of 
participation at any one time since the program's inception.

Created by Juvenile Judge James M. Ronk in March 2001, the drug court 
program was designed to specifically address the intervention needs 
of the growing body of Knox County teens exhibiting addictive or 
potentially addictive drug-related behavior.

"Throughout the time I've been judge, there have been teen drinking 
parties and smoking marijuana," said Ronk. "[At the time], I wasn't 
happy with our response.  We were looking around for evidence-based 
programs that offered the opportunity for more effective interventions."

That same year, the Ohio Supreme Court established its own office to 
assist local communities in establishing drug court programs. The 
first drug court program entered Ohio in 1995; today there are 28 
juvenile courts throughout the state and nearly 2,000 programs nationwide.

According to officials from Coshocton County, their juvenile drug 
court program has graduated 22 youths since its inception in December 
2002. There are three youths currently enrolled. Dan Wallace, court 
program administrator for Morrow County, said that Morrow's juvenile 
program began in April 2001 and has processed approximately 100 teens 
since then, with 14 currently enrolled.

"It's the best thing we've found to help combat recidivism," said Wallace.

The Knox County program accepts youths ages 14 to 18 and was 
designed, according to a mission statement, "for those juveniles who 
have been involved in criminal activity and are identified as having 
a significant drug and alcohol problem."

Melissa Body, adolescent program coordinator for the Knox County 
Freedom Center and liaison to the drug court program, called the high 
number of youths in the program an identification issue.

"It's not so much that [it's more of a problem]," said Body. "It's 
that we're identifying kids more. We really try to intervene before 
there's a big problem. We choose kids that we feel have potential and 
they're headed down the wrong path."

The court proceedings are unlike any other program in the judicial 
system. To enroll a child in the program, parents are required to 
co-sign a contract. Juvenile Magistrate Jeffrey C. Williams said it's 
a way to hold parents accountable for their children's behavior.

"If [we determine] the parent is not actively participating in the 
child's recovery, he or she could be held in contempt," said 
Williams. "We've had parents show up for [weekly] court intoxicated 
before. Once, it happened twice, and he was found in immediate 
contempt and went to jail."

"Parents are required to set a standard in their home.  Drugs or 
alcohol present hinders their recovery from their addiction. Kids 
have asked for their parents to be [drug] screened, too," said 
Program Administrator Angie Webb.

Williams said parents usually end up getting the help they need after 
watching their child's progress through the program.

Drug Court Probation Officer Misty Jenkins said the court program is 
an intensive probation intervention.

"It's not just sanctions but rewards [for good behavior]," she said. 
"We've found that five positive rewards to one negative sanction is 
the ratio when [the child's] behavior begins to change."

Participants are required to undergo individual and group counseling, 
home inspections, routine court hearings, 150 hours of community 
service, scheduled exercise regiments, monthly family activities and 
a variety of other conditions that vary from child to child.

"It's based on the idea that these families are not always educated 
in how to interact with each other," said Webb. "We teach about them 
about doing other things than are drug related."

Webb added that the scheduled family activities include picnics, 
planting trees, an annual chili cook-off, basketball and soup 
kitchens. Without a doubt, she said, the favorite this year was 
pumpkin carving.

"I don't think any of these kids have ever carved a pumpkin," said Webb.

Sanctions are handed down for any number of offenses, including 
missing school, missing a random drug test, missing a scheduled solo 
or family activity or violating curfews. A sanction could be anything 
from writing essays to an evening in Podville, forced bike riding, 
house arrest, community service or detention.

As far as rewards go, well-behaved candidates receive "drug court 
bucks" to be reimbursed later in the program for extra privileges or 
prizes. According to one court official, volunteers from the 
community have donated prizes such as sports equipment or movie 
tickets on which youths can redeem their bucks.

Williams said sanctions are catered to the individual.

"We try to take a holistic approach to the kids," said Williams. "We 
look at the whole kid, the whole family."

At a recent weekly drug court hearing, one 16-year-old boy who had 
been missing school was warned by the judge that each day he missed 
would result in one day's detention and he would have his guitar taken away.

The nine-month program consists of four separate phases, each varying 
in the intensity level of supervision. A new enrollee is required to 
attend court once per week, but by the final phase may only need to 
show up once per month. Throughout the nine months, all enrollees are 
subjected to drug and alcohol testing several times per week.

"We're always looking for a new viable alcohol monitor," said 
Jenkins. "We found the ankle bracelet was ineffective. Now we have 
breathalyzers installed on their home telephones and we can actually 
see a picture of them breathing into the tube. We try to be as 
vigilant as we can be."

Jenkins added that they are now able to track the real-time 
whereabouts of any child through the GPS chips installed in their cell phones.

Body said that in the early days of the program, youths were usually 
admitted to the program for repeated probation violations related to 
alcohol and marijuana.

"In the last six months, [prescription drug abuse] has become more of 
a problem, even with kids already in the program," she said.

Recent studies conducted by several universities and the Department 
of Justice have shown that adolescents who successfully complete the 
program are less likely to commit future crimes and are more likely 
to stay clean over the years. A DOJ study conducted in Pennsylvania 
concluded that drug court graduates had a rearrest rate of 5.4 
percent, versus a 21.5 percent rearrest rate among the control group. 
A Southern Methodist University study concluded that for every dollar 
spent on a drug court, $9.43 in tax dollar savings were realized over 
a 40-month period.

Special Agent Rich Isaacson of the Drug Enforcement Agency said his 
agency was in favor of the court program.

"We're not going to just arrest our way out of the drug problem," 
said Isaacson. "We need to look at it from a holistic approach."

"Overall, I'm happy with the program," said Ronk. "I'm convinced 
we're having a positive impact on these kids.  By definition, kids 
make mistakes. We hopefully plant some seeds that eventually come to 
fruition. That's true with about everything we do."

Webb said the level of success was relative.

"Any time you're dealing with juveniles you have to judge success 
differently," she said.

"When a parent and kid sit down and look at you and say 'My kid 
wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for you,' we call that a 
success," said Jenkins. "In the long term, it's also a real bargain 
for our community. We give the kids that period of time to give their 
brain a chance to develop normally as opposed to substance abuse."

"I wish we could expand to take on kids who are at lesser risk [of 
addiction]," Ronk added. "Like every other agency, we're limited by 
financial and human resources. We hope to add another probation 
officer soon so we can positively impact even more kids."

For Jenkins, her definition of success is simple.

"I don't have a dead kid yet," she said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake