Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 Source: Times-News, The (ID) Copyright: 2001 Magic Valley Newspapers Contact: http://www.magicvalley.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/595 Author: Shawna Fuller Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n964/a02.html DRUG COURTS DO GOOD WORK Mr. Kalange, in response to your letter of May 28: You are correct in your analysis of the current "front-end rehabilitation strategies (programs)" that do not work and end up throwing the addict into relapse and back into the court system. Dismissing the drug court as "frivolous" is a jump in the wrong direction. The drug courts in and of themselves do not "stop addiction," nor do they hope to correct morality. However, working with drug and alcohol treatment programs, the pilot drug courts nationally have shown a reduction in recidivism. When you consider the rise in the recidivism rate from 17 percent in 1974 to 67 percent in 1999 and the millions of dollars that had been spent on programs that have not worked, seeing a reduction in the rate of recidivism is meaningful. But we must know our target audience for any program to be successful. With 80 percent of those in drug and alcohol treatment being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities, the rehabilitation drug program must be modified to address the learning styles and the behavior clusters of the addict-offender. Until the November 2000 founding of Life Challenges Inc. in Twin Falls, there were no formal rehabilitation-treatment programs that targeted this audience. (At 80 percent, this is a rather large audience that has been overlooked.) As a result, most offenders, after going through as many as five different programs, continue to violate. The offender, 80 percent of the time, is not able to understand, process, apply, establish a structure of self-discipline, see or change distorted self-perceptions, or modify thinking and behavior strategies, as taught in most core programs. Therefore, he fails or, more honestly, the program fails. The drug courts, with appropriate rehabilitation-treatment programs, give the offender an opportunity to develop an individual relapse prevention plan that in turn generates more personal responsibility and accountability. The individual relapse prevention plan can be altered as the need arises and allows room for growth and refocusing. There is no magic program out there that will fix someone who doesn't want to be fixed. But in my experience, most of the offenders do want to change or improve but do not have the tools to be successful. Drug courts are a step in the right direction for much needed correction reform. SHAWNA FULLER Twin Falls (Note: Shawna Fuller is president and developer of Life Challenges Inc., a social program that teaches people who are on probation or parole how to get out of the criminal justice system. It targets those who have attention deficit disorders and behavior problems.) - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe