ONE STEP AT A TIME

Participants In Montgomery County's Drug Court Learn To Walk Before They
Can Run

FONDA - A stocky young man named Raphael hobbled down the aisle in the
Montgomery County courtroom with the aid of crutches. His arms were
tattooed with an assortment of blue designs.

Judge Felix Catena greeted him with a smile. "How are you?" the judge
asked. When Raphael answered that he was doing well, Catena gestured toward
the crutches. "You've got a new problem now," he observed.

Raphael admitted he had injured his knee playing handball in jail.

The exchange was different from what usually takes place in the courtroom.
Thursday was drug court, the purpose of which is to assist offenders in
changing their lives around and beating the addictions that led them into
trouble in the first time.

In drug court, the whole person is considered by an entire treatment team.
Everything about their lives is important because those things could
determine whether they succeed or fail.

A simple thing like a knee injury could make a big difference. Raphael has
been sober for more than a year but he admitted he's cut back on the number
of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings he has been attending. He said he has no
transportation and he has to walk to his meetings. It's difficult to do
with his knee the way it is. His girlfriend can't drive him because by the
time the meetings are over, her kids are tucked in for the night.

Claudia McDuffie, program supervisor of the alcohol clinic at St. Mary's
Hospital who functions as part of the drug court team, called his bluff.
She asked if he has made any friends at AA since he has been attending
regularly. When he said he had, she advised him to hitch a ride with one of
them to get to the meetings.

As Raphael returned to his seat, a young woman named Mary was called
forward. She hadn't been doing too well. She had been unsuccessfully
discharged from a rehab program at St. Mary's Hospital because she had
reportedly been using Tylenol P.M., an over-the-counter drug not approved
in her program.

Catena announced that the drug court team had met and decided to impose a
sanction - she was going to jail.

"We feel you're not being totally honest with the team and you're using
your daughter to get certain advantages," he told her.

He added that the team was in the process of making arrangements for her to
go to a rehabilitation program but he was concerned that her attitude was
too negative to make it in the program.

"I really think it's the medications I was taking for anxiety," Mary said.
"They made me just not care about anything."

She assured him she had discontinued the medications and she still wanted
to stay in the program.

After she was escorted from the room by a sheriff's deputy, her father
asked to speak on her behalf. He said he didn't think a halfway house is
what she needs.

"What she needs is to be productive, to go to a job," he said.

Catena explained that he was going with what the professionals on the team
were recommending.

"This is not forever," he assured the man. "We have to put one foot in
front of the other."

A tall thin man named Dan was having trouble trying to control his
fidgeting as he stood before the bench. He explained that he was under a
lot of stress at work.

Catena told him the team had decided to increase the number of AA meetings
they wanted him to attend and put him on a more intensive outpatient
treatment schedule.

"I'll do what you say," Dan said. "It's for the best. That's the way I see it."

When he was asked what his biggest challenge was in getting sober, he said,
"My pride has been the biggest thing - admitting I've got a problem that
brought me to this."

A man named Norman, who sported a long pony tail down the back of his neck,
told the judge he was doing well but he was frustrated by his inability to
get a job.

"I ain't getting no calls or nothing," he said "One of the guys I got laid
off with - he got a job last week."

McDuffie offered to make an appointment for him with a vocational counselor.

"I'd appreciate it. I'm not used to not working," he said.

Drug courts like the one in Montgomery County are sweeping the nation with
the aid of federal training grants. The courts take a lot longer than
traditional courts. Offenders have to appear several times a month and
answer for what they have done since the last time they were in.

The point behind the program is to provide intense supervision and support
to help the offender beat the addiction that led them there in the first place.

Catena explained that in the traditional system, offenders go to jail and
are released to start their problem all over again. In the drug court
program, they are subjected to regular testing. They go through counseling
and they are given the tools they need to clean up and stay clean. They
must have a job and a place to live before they can graduate.

The program is in its second year so it is too soon to tell how long the
effect will be on the participants. There are presently 13 or 14 people in
the program. Two others have graduated. Only one has failed.