Pubdate: Mon, 28 Feb 2011
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2011 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Author: Caddie Nath
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

Summit County:

NEW DRUG COURT HELPS SUBSTANCE ABUSERS GET FRESH START

Intensive Program a Successful Alternative to Jail for Some

BRECKENRIDGE - After years of struggling with substance abuse, Chad 
Blackman is on the road to recovery.

Almost exactly one year sober, the 26-year-old Breckenridge resident 
stood before a small contingent of people at the Summit County 
Justice Center Friday morning, giving advice to a youth headed down a 
road Blackman knows too well.

"You've got to want to change your mind frame," Blackman tells the 
kid across the courtroom. "You've got to want to change your life."

Blackman speaks from experience. He is the latest rising success 
story of Summit County's new drug court, a comprehensive four-phase 
program that combines the legal process with therapy and treatment to 
help habitual drug and alcohol users get and stay clean.

The Summit County drug court, based on successful drug court models 
in Denver and other parts of the country, has been up and running 
since early November.

Karen Romeo, the drug court judge, said the program is particularly 
useful in Summit County, where more than 80 percent of crimes 
committed are drug or alcohol related.

"We needed to do something that works," Romeo said. "These programs 
seem to work . It is such an intense program with high levels of 
accountability."

The 18- to 24-month program walks participants through four phases. 
Phase one is simply reaching and sustaining sobriety. The second 
phase is the longest and combines intensive treatment with frequent 
drug and alcohol screenings and regular drug court dates when 
participants and the drug court team meet to track the participants' progress.

Phase three and four are designed to help participants rejoin their 
community, by getting jobs, finding stable housing arrangements and 
completing a community service project.

Part of the program is individual support and reinforcement. The drug 
court team, from lawyers to therapists to Judge Romeo herself, cheer 
for and reward the participants' successes and the court imposes 
sanctions when participants fail a drug test or start missing appointments.

"If you're in the right mindset to change your life, they're so 
helpful," Blackman said. "It's a good support system."

Of Summit County's four drug court participants, three have made it 
to Phase two and all four have been able to find jobs since starting 
the program.

Drug court participants are selected based on specific criteria. 
Individuals must be Summit County residents charged with a crime, but 
violent or sex offenders or people who sell drugs for profit are not 
eligible. Participants have to have had a history of substance abuse 
at the root of their run-ins with the law. And, after meeting all the 
criteria, potential drug court participants also undergo an extensive 
mental health and substance abuse evaluation to determine whether the 
program is a good match for them.

The Summit County drug court team is currently considering two new 
applicants for the program and has room to have as many as 15 people 
participating.

Romeo said she's aware of the criticism of programs like the drug 
court. "People have this myth that it's really "touchy-feely" court," 
she said. "It's a lot of time and energy, but it's time and energy 
well spent because they're effective programs."

People who complete drug court programs are less likely to commit 
another crime than people who do time in jail.

For Blackman, the program was a second chance. With six months left 
on a prison sentence related to various charges, he applied for the 
two-year drug court program hoping to make a permanent change in his 
life. He is now in phase two of the program, is 100 percent compliant 
with all drug court requirements and has been sober for about a year. 
At the conclusion of the drug court hearing Friday, he approached the 
bench to proudly show Judge Romeo photographs of his 1-year-old daughter.

"I call them my kids already," Romeo said of the four drug court 
participants. "It's just amazing that we weren't able to achieve 
those changes through probation or incarceration. It's exciting to 
see people starting to get it and do better."

A few of the drug court participants have begun thinking about their 
futures and setting goals for themselves.

Blackman is going to get his degree in psychology and become a 
substance abuse councilor, he says in no uncertain terms.

"If you change one person, you change the world," Romeo said. "Think 
about the people he'll affect in a positive way."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom