DRUG COURT'S BELIEF: TREATMENT BEATS JAIL

Program Seeks To Rehabilitate Substance Abusers

Judge Tom Yeager has different names for the talks he gives to those who
come to see him each week.

A "father-son talk" is for those times when he's compassionate and
understanding; "a word of prayer" is for those times when he must be more
stern and authoritarian.

He tailors each talk to the needs of the person before him. But one thing
is clear: he cares about these people, these substance-abusing criminals
before him in the 9th Judicial District's Drug Court.

For the past five years, Yeager has overseen the Drug Court program in
Rapides Parish.

In those years, he has heard stories both heartbreaking and exasperating.
He has seen people fail to overcome their addictions, but far more often he
has watched them overcome their problems and go on to lead productive lives.

Yeager's attitude toward those who come before him is simple.

"Everyone who comes before me is a good person. They're just making bad
choices."

It is that belief in the inherent worth of people - along with a healthy
dose of discipline - that he imparts to Drug Court "probationers."

"The purpose of the program is to keep people out of jail, to get them into
treatment," Yeager said.

Only non-violent offenders can participate in Drug Court. Drug dealers are
not eligible either.

Some in Drug Court are there for drug-related charges, such as simple
possession; others are there for crimes such as simple burglary or writing
worthless checks. But all of them have substance-abuse problems.

Participants must agree to plead guilty to their crimes and must be
eligible for parole.

The 5-year-old program is rigorous. There are four phases, each of which
must be successfully completed to graduate. The entire program takes two
years to finish.

The first phase, which generally lasts from six weeks to three months,
requires weekly meetings with Yeager and program coordinator Nancy Bushnell.

There are also three or four drug screenings a week, three group therapy
meetings each week and five Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous
meetings a week.

Mistakes have "instant consequences," Bushnell said.

If a participant goes astray, he or she sees the judge the next day. The
person has to explain what happened and why. The consequences depend on the
severity of the infraction and the needs of the individual.

For some, it means a weekend in jail. For others, it's community service.
In some cases, it means additional AA or NA meetings. Whatever the
punishment, it is meted out by Yeager, and Bushnell thinks that is what
makes the difference.

"The connection with the judge is what makes the program work," she said.

"He's doing this because he cares about them."

It's not just the people in the program Yeager cares about. He cares about
the public as well.

"Public safety is a big concern," Yeager said. "Lots of folks think a drug
addict on probation in Drug Court is not safe, but the opposite is true."

The program intervenes before criminal behavior escalates, he said. When
successful, it breaks the cycle of abuse so it is not passed on to the
children of participants.

The program's participants are required to get and keep a job. They're
required to begin taking responsibility for themselves and their families.

Instead of taking from society, they become taxpayers and consumers. They
become active participants in their community, and what's good for the
community becomes what is good for them.

Drug Court gives them "structure, boundaries and a leash," Yeager said.

Graduates of the program have a low recidivism rate.

Lorita Slaughter, Drug Court probation officer, said only 10 of 44
graduates (22.7 percent) of the program had been re-arrested as of Jan. 1,
2001.

It costs about $2,500 per person a year for the program. That money comes
from the Legislature and is overseen by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Contrast that with the $20,000 a year it costs to house prisoners with the
Department of Corrections. And DOC inmates have a 60 percent recidivism
rate, Yeager said.

"There are some people who are trying to change," Slaughter said, "so we
don't have to support them in prison."

The program does more than simply give people the chance to get clean, she
said.

"It's an opportunity to give them their life back."

"If we help with the drug addiction, we don't have to make a DOC inmate of
them and support them that way."

The results of the program are what keep her going, Slaughter said.

She's seen people who seemed hopeless turn themselves around. They have
jobs now. Some of them are going to college.

"They're working, not doing drugs or alcohol," she said. "It's rewarding."

Those Drug Court participants who are first-time felony offenders can also
apply to have the conviction expunged from their record, once they complete
the program.

Slaughter said drug and alcohol use has a direct impact on the crime rate.

"I have very few that committed the crime for the heck of it," she said.

No program is perfect, and this one doesn't work for everyone, she said.
But it can work.

"It will work if they want it to work," she said.

Yeager said most of the people in Drug Court have emotional problems
driving their substance abuse.

The program seeks to "find out what the problem is, so they can learn to
deal with it."

Most participants are resistant at first, Yeager said. Some stay that way,
but most seize the chance to change their lives.

Slaughter said this is the bottom line: "These people are worth saving."

Suzan Manuel: 487-6387; smanuel@thetowntalk.com