Years in Drug Court: We started our DUI Court, which we call "Sobriety Court", in December 2001. We maintain about 110 participants at a time, with 2 full-time Case Managers, Pam Blue and Heidi Gilde. And they are the BEST! Don't take it from me; our Sobriety Court graduates tell us this regularly.
What about your Drug Court Team are you most proud of? I have a great deal of pride in our team. They respect each other greatly, they take the time to listen to differing views around the table, always voting and deciding with 2 objectives in mind: (1) what is in the best interest of the client? and (2) what is consistent with program integrity and public safety?
What has been your biggest challenge this year? Biggest challenge this year has been time management: We were chosen an Academy Court by NCDC, so that has involved some additional training and travel time. Many of our team members attended the Training of Trainers conference in Alexandria as well as a similar session in Lansing, MI and have committed to serving as facilitators at training conferences around the country. Pam Blue and myself were asked to present at the national conference in Anaheim, CA in June. In February, I took over as President of MADCP. So there is a lot happening!
Biggest challenge in Sobriety Court itself has been to find a way for one of our law enforcement agencies to be able to complete home visits on a regular and timely basis. They all want to cooperate, because they see the value, but there is not always the time. We are looking at a grant to fund overtime for one of the agencies, so one officer can devote 100% of part of a shift to home visits. We'll see. Right now, our probation officers complete this task, as well as many police officers.
How have NADCP/NDCI trainings improved your court? Without a doubt, the NDCI trainings have helped educate all of our team members, so that case review sessions become debates and discussions about what was said by key presenters at the most recent conference. It's great. The trainings have improved the professional level of our team and given us the confidence we need to intelligently address an issue with an evidence-based approach rather than a best guess. Drug court training generally has transformed our probation staff from being compliance-oriented to a group of professionals genuinely interested in counseling the probationer, helping the whole person, while at the same time holding the person accountable.
A Quality Assurance Performance Review was completed this year, where all of the data we had collected over a 4-year period on our participants was reviewed and an evaluation prepared. Guess what! Carolyn Hardin was right again (as usual): "Data is your friend." Our program was proven effective in a number of important ways that should directly affect the public safety in our community. 100% of those who completed our program were employed at discharge. (This is in Michigan, mind you.) Two years following graduation, only 9.6% of the graduates were reconvicted of a new offense (and only 3% were convicted of an AOD-offense like DWI), and ZERO % of the female graduates had been convicted of any offense!
Tell us about your most memorable Drug Court experience: My favorite Sobriety Court times have been those moments in court when I first begin to see some change visibly occurring within an individual - the healthy appearance of a young face, the loss of cynicism in the countenance of an older person, the eye contact and loss of "attitude", the humility slowly emerging in one's demeanor, the gratitude expressed for the drug court team member, the drug-free infant, just a few weeks old, waiting patiently and quietly for Mom to see the Judge. Then I know that what I am doing as a judge really counts for something, truly redirecting peoples' lives in a way that makes them happier and the community safer.
Sobriety Court is a strange and wonderful dichotomy: it offers people freedom through structure and accountability. One of our graduates put it this way: "When drugs were a part of my life, I had no freedom. If a drug presented itself, I took it. That does not indicate freedom or choice. That indicates a decision that I didn't have the capacity to make."
Addiction drives a wedge in a person's will, one part desiring freedom, the other part wanting the drug. Drug Court, and recovery, help to make the person whole and free again. It is a special privilege to be able to work so closely with people suffering so much, and to witness the miracle of recovery. 'Tis a joy.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not at work? When I am not working, I enjoy casting for trout with a dry fly in the Manistee and Boardman Rivers, sailing my O'Day onTorch Lake, cross-country skiing in the Pere Marquette State Forest, mountain biking on the single-track trails in Grand Traverse County and cycling around the farms, orchards and vineyards of Leelanau and Antrim Counties. Somebody has to do it!
How has your work in Drug Court impacted your life? My work in Drug Court has impacted my personal life in that I think I have a greater understanding now about how addiction affects an individual physiologically and spiritually, and I know that I have greater empathy for these people. The important message about Drug Courts is that they do work and that there is genuine hope for the addict which lies in recovery.
