GETTING BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY

New Kind Of Drug Court Helps Recovering, Previously Incarcerated
Users Start Fresh

Angelina County has taken its fight against drug use one step further
and implemented another court-mandated treatment program.

On Monday night the county began a court session for seven local
residents fresh out of a six-month intensive state drug
rehabilitation facility.

Three women and four men, all battling addictions to either
methamphetamine or cocaine, sat attentively in a district courtroom.
For the next 12 months, they are required to attend court every
Monday night as they begin their transition from a halfway house
environment to a life with more freedoms.

"We all believe you will make it or we wouldn't be here," said 217th
state District Judge Barry Bryan, who is presiding over the program.

The weekly sessions are part of a 12-month program called re-entry
court, which is comparable to the drug court run by Angelina County
159th state District Judge Paul White. Drug court is an alternative
form of probation for those charged with felony drug use or driving
while intoxicated.

Both programs require participants to appear in court each week,
attend drug and alcohol abuse counseling, submit to drug screening
and abide by rules set by a probation officer.

Re-entry court was created in an effort to lower the county's drug
relapse rate of about 33 percent, and as reinforcement to the state's
in-house drug treatment called substance abuse felony punishment
facility (SAFPF), Bryan said.

SAFPF is the longest-term state rehabilitation facility an offender
can be required to attend. It lasts six months, after which
participants are moved into a halfway house for further supervision.

Each year the county sends 75 to 100 residents to SAFPF, said Marcy
Anthony of the county probation office. Some of those are people who
didn't complete drug court. Of the seven in re-entry court Monday
night, three had failed to complete drug court.

For each person sent to SAFPF treatment, the state has paid
approximately $25,000 in total expenses for SAFPF, halfway house
boarding and some follow-up counseling, said Anthony.

"We saw this as a way to help protect our investment and help make
(participants) successful," Bryan said.

All seven are expected to be monitored by CSCD for the next two years
- -- including the one in Bryan's court.

Bryan said he hopes re-entry court participants are more advanced in
their drug treatment than those in drug court, because there is less
room for error.

"Because we're dealing with people who have been through SAFPF, it
leaves fewer options as sanctions for violations," Bryan said.

Minor penalties include community service, additional counseling
sessions, weekends in jail and extension of sobriety date. Major
penalties in re-entry court are either a trip back to SAFPF or prison time.

"These are their choices," said Phyllis Grandgeorge, executive
director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. "It let's them know
how powerful they are."

Sessions begin every Monday at 6 p.m. in the 217th District courtroom.