Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2005
Source: Monroe News-Star (LA)
Copyright: 2004 The News-Star, Gannett
Contact:  http://www.thenewsstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1644
Author: Johnny Gunter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TEAM SHAPING DRUG COURT

A 10-member team working with 4th Judicial District Court Judge Sharon
I. Marchman hopes to open a juvenile drug court by September or October.

Marchman already serves as judge for the adult drug court and is the
juvenile court judge.

"One of the issues I campaigned on was the drug problem," Marchman
said. "I really had no idea at that time the extent of the problem."

State Sen. Robert Barham, R-Oak Ridge, met with the group Thursday at
Green Oaks Juvenile Detention Center in Monroe. Barham said the
Legislature would rather fund drug courts than to pay for
incarcerating people addicted to drugs.

"The cost of housing a prisoner is over $25,000 a year," Barham said.
"You could give a kid a scholarship to Harvard for that kind of money."

Most of the funding for the juvenile drug court will come from the
state but administered through the state Supreme Court. According to
court statistics, almost 25 percent of all juveniles arrested over the
past three years were accused of alcohol or drug-related crimes.

It is obvious from the statistics that juvenile drug problems and
drug-related crimes are "extremely prevalent in our community,"
Marchman said.

She said the 10-member team or committee is working on an effective
procedure to identify juvenile drug use at the time of arrest. Barham
said that three out of four state prisoners are there because of drugs
and he suspects those same figures would apply to juveniles.

The program will start slowly because it's an intense program with a
lot of people in the community involved, Marchman said. Those include
counselors, indigent defenders, probation officers, the district
attorney, Green Oaks and the state Office of Youth
Development.

"We'll start slow, because we want to work the kinks out," Marchman
said. She said probably no more than 35 would be taken during the first
year.

Larry Norris, a team member and chief of court services, said state
funding for each client the court involves in the program runs $5,625
a year. The program is for juveniles from 13 to 16 years old.  Jana
Sutton, Ph.D., a team member and licensed professional counselor, said
getting the children at 13 and 14 "will stop them from getting into
more trouble before reaching an older age." She said the younger
juveniles are easier to rehabilitate.

Sutton said the participants and their families would receive a wide
range of therapy and education.

Marchman said many of the juveniles are not in school and a part of
the program will require them to be in school.

She said the mission of the juvenile drug court is to reduce youth and
family alcohol and drug use and the resulting crime through intensive
judicial supervision. It also includes therapeutic intervention and
education.

Team member Carolyn Lewis, regional manager of the state's Office of
Youth Development, said the use of incentives is important for the
youth involved in the program. "This is where the community can become
involved," she said.

Incentives could include anything from a candy bar to movie tickets.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin