Pubdate: Sun, 06 Dec 2009
Source: Star Press, The (Muncie, IN)
Copyright: 2009 The Star Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/m0DXtEYZ
Website: http://www.thestarpress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1925
Author: Nick Werner
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

GETTING CLEAN MEANS BEATING THE ODDS

Overcoming Addiction Has Proven Difficult For Many  People Sentenced
To Drug Court; Those Who Succeed  Praise The Program.

MUNCIE -- If the Guinness Book contained a category for  most
expensive single drug binge, Jeff Branham might  very well own the
record.

By Branham's account, he smoked almost $20,000 worth of  crack cocaine
in an 11-day period, a bender that left  little time for sleep or
anything else but getting  high.

What's worse, he financed the drugs by forging checks  from his
83-year-old father's savings account, drawing  the attention of
authorities who charged him with 66  felony crimes.

"Basically I was going to prison," Branham said. "I  faced that
reality."

Branham didn't go to prison, though.

Delaware Circuit Court Judge Robert Barnet Jr.  sentenced Branham to
three years in prison and three  years probation. But to Branham's
surprise, the judge  suspended the prison part of Branham's sentence
to  allow him to enter Delaware County's drug court  program.

More than four years after his arrest, Branham is  sober, gainfully
employed in the tree-service industry,  a believer in God, and mending
his relationship with  his father.

"I can tell in his eyes every once in a while that it  still hurts
him," Branham said.

Drug courts are a form of probation that seeks  rehabilitation through
meetings with a supervisor,  substance abuse therapy, frequent drug
screenings and  education. The courts offers the kind of support that
is often unavailable to addicts behind prison walls.

Only non-violent offenders are eligible for drug court.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the nation's  first drug
court, which was founded in Miami-Dade  County, Florida, in response
to a drug epidemic at that  time. Since then the concept has expanded
with 2,301  drug courts serving addicts in all 50 states, according
to Chris Deutsch, associate director of communications  for the
National Association of Drug Court  Professionals.

Delaware County has had a drug court since 2005.

While Branham's narrative exemplifies the possibilities  of Delaware
County's drug court, his story is also  atypical.

Branham beat the odds when he graduated from drug court  a year
ago.

According to figures provided by Delaware County  Community
Corrections, almost three-quarters of drug  court users fail out of
the program and end up in  prison as a result.

DCCC director June Kramer said the failure rate  reflects the
seriousness of drug addiction, and is not  necessarily an indicator
that the program is performing  poorly.

"What I always point to is we are taking more serious  offenders who
have probably had treatment before and  failed," she said. "Many of
them are abusers of  multiple substances. It's not necessarily just
one."

In neighboring Madison County, the drug court success  rate is about
40 percent.

But Madison County's program lasts 18 months, whereas  completion of
drug court in Delaware County takes three  years.

According to Ball State University criminologist Jerome  McKean,
Delaware County's drug court is more rigorous  than most.

"My general impression is very positive," he said.

Jessica Woolums-Smith also has a positive general  impression of drug
court, even as it appears she is  being kicked out of the program.

"They try to help you as much as they can," she said  recently from
inside a jail holding cell. "Other than  going to prison and wasting
your life away."

Just six months away from graduating drug court,  Woolums-Smith got
arrested in September on charges that  she and two other accomplices
robbed a drug dealer in  Muncie.

Woolums-Smith, a 24-year-old mother of three, admits to  driving a
friend to a drug deal in return for gas  money, but said she did not
rob anyone.

Recently she received notification from Delaware County  Community
Corrections that they wanted to revoke her  from drug court. If Judge
John Feick agrees, it would  immediately send her to prison for two
years on an old  drug possession conviction.

"When I got those papers my heart was broke, it was  worse than
anything," she said.

Despite the difficulties some face completing drug  courts, McKean
said there is strong evidence that they  are effective. A 2005 survey
by the White House  Government Accountability Office determined that
drug  court participants were less likely than other  criminals to be
rearrested or reconvicted.

"They combine accountability and stringent supervision  with an
opportunity for rehabilitation," McKean said.

And Kramer argues they are still a good investment,  given the
alternative is sending everyone to prison.

According to Kramer, drug courts cost taxpayers about  $8.29 a day per
person, whereas prison costs taxpayers  $52 a day per person.

Delaware County's drug court users report to case  managers Jayne
Meranda and Tracy Blankenship, who  essentially act as counselors,
trying to keep everyone  on the straight and narrow.

Early on, the offenders meet with their case manager's  daily and
Judge John Feick weekly, developing a much  more intimate relationship
with the judicial system.

Meranda and Blankenship learn the details of the  offenders' personal
lives to try to spot any situations  that might lead them back to drug
abuse -- problems  with boyfriends, problems with bosses, peer pressure.

"We can't help you deal with issues if you don't let us  know what's
going on," Meranda said.

Sue Eller, who is 18 months into the program, agreed.

"I don't care what it is, you can tell them anything,"  Eller said.
"And they don't look down on you for what  you've done."

Branham and Meranda bonded over a mutual appreciation  for heavy metal
music and the radio station 98.9 "The  Bear" out of Fort Wayne.

"Not too many people like my radio station and like my  music," he
said.

On a recent Friday, Branham posed for photographs with  his father,
Murkel, in Murkel Branham's tidy southside  home.

The fact that father and son agreed to be in the same  frame together
after all they've gone through says  something about both men.

Murkel Branham told The Star Press his son had changed.

"He's doing pretty well," he said.

Murkel Branham recently gave his son an old big screen  TV that
belonged to him. At nights and on weekends,  Jeff mostly stays at
home, watching basketball and  football.

The days of raising hell, snorting coke and drinking  whiskey are
over, he said.

"I really enjoy being sober." 
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