JUVENILE DRUG COURT SEES POSITIVE RESULTS

Study Finds Majority Of Youths In Program Are Reducing Drug Use, Doing
Better In School.

By Vic Ryckaert Indianapolis Star July 11, 2001 Marion County's
10-month-old drug court for youths is showing signs of success, officials
say. A preliminary report by Indiana University researcher Kevin Whiteacre
suggests 82 percent of the youths in the program have reduced their drug
use, 72 percent have increased school attendance and 67 percent have
improved school performance.

Those numbers are no fluke, said Wanda King, a U.S. Department of Justice
consultant who travels the country helping communities start juvenile drug
courts, and who advised local officials.

"It's really a marriage of the court system and treatment," King said.
"Court alone wasn't working, and treatment alone wasn't working."

More than 140 juvenile drug court programs already are operating in the
country, she said.

In Marion County, youths 12 to 17 are enrolled in counseling and have
weekly drug tests. Juveniles and their parents appear before a judge twice
a week; if the youths miss classes or fail a urine test, consequences are
swift.

"It's the immediacy of the consequences; that's what makes the real
difference," said Jill Kirkhoff-Alerding, coordinator for Community
Counseling Center, which provides counseling for the program.

The program has accepted 138 juveniles. So far, 33 have graduated, 73 are
still in treatment and 32 have been expelled. Those who successfully
complete treatment have their criminal cases dismissed.

Juvenile drug crime has increased 479 percent in Marion County since 1985.
More than half of the youths locked up in the Juvenile Detention Center
test positive for drug use.

Despite reports of the rising popularity of Ecstasy and other club drugs,
pot is the substance of choice for Marion County juveniles.

The study found 69 percent of juveniles in the drug court were arrested on
charges of possessing marijuana. Possession of drug paraphernalia was
second at 16 percent, and alcohol offenses ranked third at 7 percent.