Treatment courts no walk in the park

Since the Hill County drug and DUI courts began in December 2012, the treatment programs have graduated 33 out of 99 total participants. But the number it has terminated is not far behind.

The judge for both treatment courts, Justice of the Peace Audrey Barger, said the courts have terminated 24 participants in the same period of time.

Barger emphasized, in an interview months ago, that the treatment courts are extremely difficult and being admitted into one is certainly not an easy get-out-of-jail card.

Office of State Public Defender Regional Deputy Kaydee Snipes Ruiz is responsible for presenting potential participants with the contracts that need to be signed before being admitted into a program. She said some people have chosen jail over treatment court when given the option. For some people, the programs have too many appointments to keep track of, and they are too much trouble, too much work, she said.

Drug and DUI courts began in Florida in 1989 as programs intended to reduce the backlog of drug-related court cases, recidivism and substance abuse among participants.

The programs offer tailored help that addresses the addiction at its core and has the teeth of the judicial system ready to nip at the participants should they stop moving forward. The courts keep participants busy with counseling and work appointments and drug tests and other requirements of the sort. Drug courts keep addicts in treatment for long periods of time, up to three years, and supervise them closely while in the program.

Barger said that because the programs address the underlying issues that drive people to substance abuse, they save the community and the Department of Corrections money because they are more likely to prevent relapse. Full restoration also means the addiction likely will not be passed on to the children, so those are more expenses taxpayers won't be stuck with. Another way taxpayers win is because instead of being in jail, a lot of the treatment court participants have jobs, she said.

Advance Practice Registered Nurse Suzanne Lockwood of Bullhook Community Health Center, who functions like a psychiatrist, said she evaluates every member of the treatment courts once they are admitted into the courts. And if an evaluation proves that the patients need further care, she continues to see the patients on a regular basis.

Lockwood said a majority of drug court participants have an SDMI, a severely debilitating mental illness, commonly a result of genetics. Common SDMIs are bipolar disorder, major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Lockwood works to treat those issues so patients can be stable enough to get organized and clean.

She said the programs are excellent because they also provide people with structure and boundaries while giving them time to recover and change the bad habits they have developed.

But for those who don't make it, it's exactly the structure and boundaries that prove to be the deal breakers.

While the treatment courts session ended with the graduation of one person from each court Thursday, there were times during the session when things were not so rosy.

One woman, who was in Hill County jail clothes and shackles, was chided by Barger for not doing anything she was supposed to. The judge said she was concerned about the woman's "extra-curricular activities" and the people she'd been hanging out with. In the contract for either treatment court, the judge reserves the right to tell participants who they can and cannot be around.

When the woman in shackles tried to rebut Barger, the judge told her not to argue and that she will be left in jail custody until something is figured out. Barger told the woman she was seriously considering terminating her from the program because she wasn't following any of her court orders.

In the weeks to come, three of the 33 graduates of the program will be featured as they discuss the challenges and, ultimately, the long-term benefits of the treatment programs.

The grants for both courts expire Sept. 30. The DUI court has been funded by Montana Department of Transportation and the drug court by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The idea, Barger has said, was that the courts would sustain themselves by now. But that hasn't turned out to be the case yet.

Barger has applied for a grant through the Montana Department of Transportation to renew the DUI court. She has applied for three grants to renew the drug court.

"No grants have been awarded to us at this time (not denied, we just haven't heard anything)," Barger said in an email.