PROGRAM AIDS DRUG OFFENDERS

Go to jail, or Drug Treatment Court? Starting today, that's the option
nonviolent offenders with drug and alcohol addictions appearing in Jackson
City Court will have.

They could never be sentenced to drug court. It's strictly voluntary. But if
they decide to go and qualify for it, it's been proved to work, program
coordinator Damien Nethery said.

Only 4 percent of drug court graduates are re-arrested, and 50 to 60 percent
of graduates eliminate drug use altogether, according to a U.S. Criminal
Justice Department report. So instead of re-arresting nonviolent offenders,
officials hope to rehabilitate them.

"It's a rigorous 12-month program, but an alternative to jail," Nethery
said.

A team meeting will be held today for the program to discuss how much money
the program has and how to put it to best use, City Judge Blake Anderson
said. Every Friday the group will meet to discuss and evaluate drug
treatment clients, Anderson said. The team will begin assessing clients
right away, Nethery said.

Those wanting to enter the program: can't have pending charges or a violent
felony on record, must undergo a legal and clinical screening and must agree
to frequent drug tests and a heavy load of stipulations that would be
demanded of them.

The program has three phases, beginning with months of vigorous addiction
therapy, testing and community service. By the final stage, the client is
expected to get a job and learn a number of life skills. Clients in that
phase will even be required to take GED courses if they haven't graduated
from high school.

"The stereotypical drug abuser has trouble holding down a job," Nethery
said. "If they do have a job then we are going to do everything we can to
tailor their meetings around that. We're not just looking at the addiction
but the holistic approach.

"Their days are filled, so not to give them time to lapse back into that
negative activity. If they miss therapy sessions or don't follow through on
any parts of the program, they will be sanctioned. Sanctions could even mean
a day or more of jail time. The ultimate sanction would be termination from
the program, in which they would have to serve their full sentence in jail."

The only costs to clients would be the textbook for a behavior modification
class. Or if a client asked that a positive drug screening be reconfirmed,
they would have to pay the $9 fee, Nethery said.

Jackson will get $344,000 in state grant money over a four-month period to
start the program. The city will provide its 25 percent match to the grant
through a $13.75 litigation tax, which is expected to generate $55,000 a
year. The fee will be applied to City Court fees, bringing costs up to
$52.50.