COUNTY WANTS DRUG COURT

Treatment Program Already Established in Other Counties

Joseph Traficanti Jr. calls himself the "original skeptic."

Through the mid-1990s, the former Ulster County judge believed in the
state's Rockefeller Drug Laws and the notion that all drug offenders
should receive harsh punishment. Courts, he said, had no business
getting involved with social work or community partnerships that
promote treatment over incarceration.

But Traficanti, now a state deputy chief administrative judge, had a
change of heart after he attended a drug court commencement in
Rochester and saw a tearful graduate thank the judge for saving his
life.

Similar programs for nonviolent drug offenders were being formed
across the country, and the former skeptic himself was later
responsible for the formation of treatment courts in 62 New York counties.

"What really impressed me was there's no politics to it," Traficanti
told an audience of police officers, judges, health-care workers and
human service workers at the Madison County Domestic Violence
Coalition's semiannual meeting Wednesday at New Beginnings Free
Methodist Church in Wampsville. "All sides of the political spectrum
seemed to be supportive of this."

Today, Traficanti said, every county in New York state either has one
drug court or is forming one.

Madison County would be the last Central New York county to start a
drug-treatment court. Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga and Oneida counties
have drug treatment courts. Madison County Judge Dennis McDermott has
applied for a startup grant and could have a program in place next
year.

The program allows defendants to have criminal charges dismissed after
successfully completing of the treatment program under judicial
supervision.

In order to graduate, candidates must get a job or earn a General
Education Development diploma if they don't already have a high school
diploma, and remain sober for one year. In some counties or cities,
participants see the judge every day.

"Most thought it was the easy way out. It's not," Traficanti said.
"They tell you they're afraid to disappoint you. The black robe helps.
Street thugs say, 'I'm afraid to mess up because I'm afraid to face
the judge.'

"I thought at first, giving them a (graduation) certificate was kind
of Mickey Mouse," Traficanti said. "But for some of these folks, it's
the first time in their entire life they had something with their name
on it that they could hang on their wall. They absolutely cherish it.
And how many of these folks have ever had anybody applaud for them?"

A successful drug-treatment court program requires tremendous
collaboration between the courts, social services departments and
other agencies that can help the drug offender with transportation,
child care and financial issues. In the beginning, Traficanti said,
judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers may have difficulty grasping
its non-adversarial approach.

"Just changing the culture, the thinking, is very difficult for us
lawyers," he said. "It's a hard sell in some places."

Yet the intensive team effort saves the state and counties money,
Traficanti said. It costs about $30,000 a year to house a drug
offender in jail. By contrast, he said, inpatient treatment for
nonviolent drug offenders is $18,400 per year and outpatient treatment
is $5,100.

A 1999 Erie County Department of Social Services study found that the
Lackawanna Drug Court saved the county $2.1 million in Medicaid, child
foster care, food stamps and cash assistance programs. Its graduating
class of 152 people avoided public entitlements because they were able
to work, maintain custody of their children, remain healthy and give
birth to healthy babies, the study said.

Madison County Social Services Commissioner James Cary likes the
concept of a drug-treatment court in the county. "In some counties it
worked very well," he said. "It allows us another option to save some
money and save some lives."