FAMILY DRUG COURT ADDED TO COUNTY PROGRAM

Grayson County Drug Court, where Judge Rim Nall presides, can claim
five thus-far successful cases in which alcohol and other
drug-addicted people have begun to turn their lives around.

Now the program is adding another element: Family Drug Court. Judge James
Fallon will preside over the Family Drug Court, said Dr. Hank Gorman, an
Austin College psychology professor who serves as the outside evaluator.
The state, which grants money for the special court, requires an outside
evaluator to ensure compliance with the grant's terms and to suggest
improvements to the process. Gorman has worked with the Drug Court team
since last Thanksgiving and the Family Drug Court since April. However,
the Family Drug Court has yet to get a client.

Gorman said those who would qualify for the Family Drug Court must be in
danger of losing their children because of drug arrests. He said no
potential clients have applied yet.

"So far, I think the reason people have turned us down is that
(unlike those in regular Drug Court) they're not facing prison, they're
facing getting their children taken away from them. And they love
their children, but not as much as they love staying on drugs.

"Once they get to the point that they learn they're going to have to do
three UAs (urinary analysis) being sober and AA every day, they just say,
'Oh no, I'm not doing that.'"

Both courts are aimed at breaking the harmful cycle of dependence on
alcohol and illicit drugs and the criminal or violent behavior associated
with that disease. The changes occur because of intensive oversight by a
team composed of the judge, probation officers, counselors and attorneys
with the District Attorney's Office.

"Regular Drug Court is for people with drug problems that have led them to
crime as opposed to criminals who are using drugs or drug users that
aren't committing crimes except those associated with drug use,"
Gorman explained. "In the past, those people were sent to prison and came
back and did drugs and got caught and got sent back to prison and so
on until they died, because prison doesn't work."

When former U.S. Attorney Gen. Janet Reno was a judge in Miami, she said
"enough of this" and told the prosecutor there to start a drug court.

"They really didn't have any idea except that they would be non-punitive
and incorporate what we know from psychology about what changes
behavior and what we know from medicine about drug abuse," Gorman said. "
The goals are to get these people sober and holding down jobs and
stabilize their lives and make them citizens instead of clients of the state."

He said most of those accepted into the program have never had a chance
in life. They might have been born to families that contain
several generations of drug abusers. And it doesn't really make any
difference what drug it is.

"When they can't get the drug of choice, they use whatever they can get.
It's as much about being in an altered drug state as it is about
preventing withdrawal from a particular kind of drug," Gorman said. "That
was one that surprised me, I always thought opiate addicts had to get
narcotics and meth abusers had to get cocaine or speed."

Gorman said those accepted into the Drug Court promise (and are held
accountable for) paying restitution to their victims as well as keeping up
payments on court costs. They also must do community service.

Gorman said he had just returned from a National Drug Court Conference and
learned a lot.

"If you or I or other people walking around take a drink or use a drug,
it makes you feel goofy; makes you feel very different. These people,
it makes them feel normal for the first time in their lives, because
these drugs work really well to correct the chemical imbalances in
their bodies. And when society tells them, you can't use these drugs,
you might as well tell them, you have to quit breathing."

Some of the drugs cause changes neurally (in the brain's wiring) that last
up to seven years of sobriety.

"So we're talking about long-term craving for the drugs, not you get
over withdrawal, then, you're clean and don't worry about anything."

Recovery from any substance addiction means staying away from
"trigger activities" that might send a person back into that lifestyle.
This includes, most importantly, disassociation from friends, places
and situation that involved their drug-taking behavior. Recovery also
means learning new life skills to help people entertain themselves, cope
with anger, "get a backbone" and get back into productive society.

Always present is the Drug Court team. Clients must participate in daily
AA meetings, group counseling every week and frequent, including
surprise, drug tests. They visit probation officers weekly and with
children's protective services officers (if they are parents). Twice a
week, they meet with the judge and other clients in Drug Court.

In the Drug Court sessions, they get great praise for their successes and
sanctions for misbehavior. They idea is to provide the support to keep
them sober. But all help is based on the client's taking
personal responsibility. One person begins at dawn and walks from the
Fannin County line to make his appointments. Several ride bicycles to
work, court dates and meetings with probation officers. They are
responsible for having alternative plans so that if plan A falls they can
go to plan B or even plan C.

Gorman said Nall is absolutely revered by those in the drug court. When
they hold the graduation ceremonies, all the team members get thank yous,
but Nall gets hugs.

Gorman said his role will be to suggest ways to improve the program. This
will include working with an intern to look at all kinds of data and
other information to determine what is working best with this
special population.

And it means attending conferences and other education opportunities to
learn what other evaluators are finding works best.

"That means serving the clients as best we can and getting the best kind of
clients for the program," Gorman explained.

In the 16 months the program has existed, 27 people have agreed to
enter it. Five have graduated, which means they have succeeded in the
program for a year, and two have relapsed. Eleven currently are in
treatment and will enter Drug Court when they finish. Six have absconded,
which means they have quit showing up. Warrants have been issued for them
to be arrested.

Gorman laughed and said, so far, his best idea to improve the court is to
get microphones so everyone can hear praises and lectures during the court
sessions.