Pubdate: Mon, 05 Apr 2004
Source: Daily Independent, (Ashland, KY)
Copyright: 2004 The Daily Independent, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.dailyindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1573
Author: Mike James
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

DRUG COURT PARTICIPANTS HELP WITH FUND DRIVE

GREENUP Participants in Greenup and Lewis county drug court will spend some 
of their spare time trying to raise money for charity during May, which is 
National Drug Court Month.

They'll do it by coordinating the collection of pop-can tabs, which they'll 
donate to the Ronald McDonald House. The house, which provides lodging to 
families of seriously ill hospital patients, recycles the tabs and uses the 
money for its operations.

Kentucky's drug courts are a court-supervised treatment program for 
non-violent drug offenders. They work to curb relapse rates while also 
avoiding the cost of putting offenders in prison.

The Greenup/Lewis drug court graduated its first 11 participants last month.

The pop-tab project is a perfect fit for most drug court participants, said 
coordinator Julie Ilhardt.

She was looking for a project that would get them involved in the community 
but not conflict with legitimate obligations. "Many of our people work 
every day so we needed to find community involvement that fit in with 
that," Ilhardt said.

The participants can not only save the tabs at home but can encourage 
people in their workplace and businesses they frequent to save them, she 
said. And they can help coordinate regular pickups of the tabs at 
collection points.

The project is part of a month of observances of the successes of drug 
courts, according to a statement from the Kentucky Administrative Office of 
the Courts. Drug courts were first implemented in the state in 1993 and 
since then have saved the state $14.5 million by putting offenders through 
the program rather than sending them to prison, according to the statement.

The program works by developing individual plans that include specific 
responsibilities and goals. Participants are subject to random urine tests. 
The program is overseen by a judge; in Greenup and Lewis counties by 
Circuit Judge Lewis D. Nicholls, who rewards progress and punishes 
non-compliance.

Successful completion of the program makes participants eligible for 
probation or dismissal of charges.
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