Pubdate: Sun, 06 Feb 2005
Source: Bowling Green Daily News (KY)
Copyright: 2005 News Publishing LLC
Contact:  http://www.bgdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1218
Author: Hayli Fellwock

JUVENILE DRUG COURT FINDS EARLY, BUT LIMITED, SUCCESS

Nearly six months after its inception, Warren County Juvenile Drug Court is
going strong, though with only three juveniles in the program so far.

"I think that's partially because of the infancy of the program," said
Warren District Judge Brent Potter, who orders juveniles to drug court.
"We've had 11 referrals. Either some of them are too old ... some of them
just don't meet the criteria at this point in time. It's not a bad problem.
We anticipate getting several more in the near future."

Potter said he has been impressed with the success of the program so far.

"The ones we have had that have done well have surprised me," he said.
"They've done better than I've expected. I think it's the intense
supervision and we have other things they are having to do.

"I think it minimizes their substance abuse, and the longer we can do that,
the more likelihood they are going to have a chance to succeed in the
community. If we can keep three to 15 kids off drugs, I think that will make
a big difference in the community. It's a great concept."

Juvenile drug court - preceded by a very similar program for adults - is a
treatment-oriented, three-phase program that lasts at least nine months and
gets progressively less restrictive, going from total home restriction in
phase one to an 8 p.m. curfew on weeknights and 11 p.m. curfew on weekends
in phase three.

America saw its first juvenile drug courts crop up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
Buffalo, N.Y., and San Diego. The idea spread to Fayette County in 2001, and
then to other Kentucky counties - Kenton, Campbell, Pike, Jefferson,
Christian and Letcher and two more programs to cover the combined counties
of Laurel-Knox and Whitley-McCreary. Warren County started its program in
early September, with a capacity of 15 juveniles, ages 13 to 17 and 2
months.

The program is primarily funded by a federal grant from the Bureau of
Justice Assistance, which funds juvenile and adult drug courts. Kentucky
will apply for more federal grants this year to help start additional
juvenile drug court programs throughout the state. But competition is fierce
for the grants, as Kentucky has only received six of the 30 it has applied
for in the past two years.

Under the grant, only juveniles charged with public offenses - as opposed to
status offenses such as truancy, running away or "behavior not in control" -
may be referred to drug court.

"Initially, we thought we would be able to get status offenders into the
program as well," said Connie Payne, drug court manager for the
Administrative Office of the Courts.

"We're very grateful (for the grant), but it's a little disheartening that
we cannot get to the juveniles while they are just in the status offense
stage," she said. "If they have just one public offense, we can bring them
in."

Potter estimated that about 60 percent to 75 percent of juvenile offenses
that are not traffic-related stem from some type of drug addiction.

"Many crimes are generated because of drug addiction - whether it's people
shoplifting to make (drugs) or shoplifting to get money to buy it," he said.
"Breaking in houses - a lot of times that's a result of drug addiction,
unfortunately."

While in drug court, the juveniles are subjected to random drug testing,
counseling sessions and curfews - with rules violations resulting in
community service or even incarceration.

The cost of the program for Warren County is about $15 a day for each
juvenile, versus between $94 and $120 per day for housing a juvenile in
juvenile detention center.

Aside from the cost benefits, Bowling Green Police Department Officer David
Dunn agreed with Potter that there are other pros - changes in the
juveniles' anti-social behavior become evident more quickly as a result of
drug court.

"The ones who are currently in drug court have benefited by being there," he
said. "Whatever scrutiny they were under by being on probation, that gets
multiplied in drug court, plus multiple drug testing.

"If you're inclined to use drugs, it would be rather hard to do so under
those conditions. Hopefully, once they're out of drug court, that will
transfer into their everyday lives out of the program," Dunn said.

Payne said Warren County Juvenile Drug Court Coordinator Brian "Slim" Nash,
who deferred comments to officials in Frankfort, will likely team up soon
with Chief Circuit Judge Margaret Huddleston to increase participation in
the program by considering juvenile referrals from Warren Family Court, over
which Huddleston presides.

Juveniles have previously been referred to drug court only from Warren
Juvenile Court, either by the recommendation of an attorney, judge or the
Department of Juvenile Justice.

Payne said the growth of Warren Juvenile Drug Court has been somewhat
hindered by a restructuring in Warren District Court, spurred by the recent
retirement of District Judge JoAnn Coleman.

"When the grant was initially applied for, it was Judge Potter and Judge
Coleman who were going to participate, but since then Judge Coleman began
the process of retiring," Payne said. "She realized it would not be fair to
get involved and then retire. There has also been a restructuring process in
Warren County District Court, with only two district court judges instead of
three, and that has affected the program somewhat. I think we will see an
increase in participation once the reorganization and restructuring dies
down."
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