PROGRAM BRINGS PROGRESS, HOPE

Reporter's note: Nationally, 65 to 85 percent of jail inmates have
addiction problems. There is no reason to think Racine County is any different.

Drug courts in other counties - in Wisconsin and nationwide - have seen
tremendous success in helping people overcome problems with drugs and
alcohol, and helping them stay out of jail.

For the past several years a group of Racine County officials and residents
have been trying to get a drug treatment court started here, hoping that
the combination of education and treatment could help some people beat
their addictions.

The county's team finished its training a few weeks ago, and is now working
on the final stage before a pilot program can begin. The county has pledged
its support, setting aside $5,000 to help the program get started. The
program would start with repeat drunken drivers, possibly five to 10
annually, and grow from there.

These stories take a look at what has happened in Dane County, and why a
drug court may help here.

MADISON - Sitting through a drug treatment court session is alternately
heartbreaking and inspiring.

Graduates speak about how they turned their lives around: building new
relationships with family and friends, finding stable employment, getting
off drugs. Staff members talk about progress made, how graduates got clean,
stayed clean and turned their lives around.

Then the court moves on, from the people at the end of the program to the
ones still moving through it. It is there that you hear about the struggle
before the triumph.

About three dozen people were due to appear at the Dane County Drug
Treatment Court Aug. 19 in Madison. The men and women there had all been
charged with crimes somehow related to drug abuse, but instead of working
their way through the criminal court, they were sent to the drug court and
Judge Sarah O'Brien.

The morning started with graduations, including Nelson Plapp, who
originally faced felony and misdemeanor drug charges.

Plapp's story is a classic one of success. He was commended for being open,
honest and up front with court staff throughout the process. He worked to
earn his high school diploma.

But while he ultimately succeeded, it wasn't easy.

Plapp "came in with some very strong opinions," said Lila Schmidt, clinical
services coordinator for the drug court. He didn't think he had a problem,
she told the court, and was a strong advocate for the legalization of
marijuana.

Kenneth Farmer, the assistant district attorney who works with the drug
court, said Plapp was motivated, but noted he had missed several tests,
including one that extended his graduation date.

The drug court is set up to handle lapses; it recognizes that getting off
drugs is hard, requires support and treatment, and takes time.

After the last graduate walked away with a certificate, the real court
process began.

The people coming before O'Brien originally faced criminal charges, but
instead of paying the fines or serving jail time, they agreed to get help
instead.

The program requires them to be treated for their addictions, however
serious or minor the problem. The drug court can send people to residential
treatment facilities, have them report for outpatient medical treatment, or
provide them with educational support. Most people spend about nine months
in the drug court program. Before they can graduate, they must have no
missed or dirty tests for 90 days.

Some people do well right away, never missing a test and never testing
positive for drugs. Others slip, failing to pick up medications, to produce
for a urine test, or testing positive for drugs they are not supposed to be
using.

Two people dropped out of the program that day, one because he couldn't get
regular transportation, the other because it was too hard.

Most were trying, working to find ways to stay away from the drugs that got
them in trouble. Some succeeded, some didn't. Some earned another chance,
others were sent to jail.

Dane County has had a drug court for nine years, and has been regarded as a
success for much of that time.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk was elected shortly after the program
started. She said she was initially skeptical of its effectiveness, but has
since been convinced. She gives the program $350,000 from the county's
property taxes each year to keep it running.

"It saves expensive jail beds and it turns lives around," she said. "There
wasn't enthusiasm by the stakeholders when it first started, and rightly
so. People should be skeptical of something new, but evidence continued to
come in and show it was working."

Between 1996 and 2004, the most recent statistics available from Dane
County, 428 people had graduated from the drug court program, a 70 percent
successful completion rate. Those people are about half as likely to
re-offend than people who did not graduate from the program. Graduates had
babies that were born drug-free, they found employment and they had their
children returned to them.

Beyond the personal and social benefits, the drug court has saved the
county thousands of dollars since 1996 because drug court is so much
cheaper than jail time. In 2003, the per-day cost for a person in the drug
court was about $17.78; the per-day cost for a jail stay was estimated at
$60.41.

For about five years, a group of people have been trying to start a drug
court here. Joe Kivlin, municipal judge for Wind Point and North Bay and a
founder of the Alliance for Drug and Alcohol Management, has been one of
the most active.

"From a human standpoint, it enables people to identify and deal with this
illness that they have," Kivlin said. "It's a public health benefit, it's a
social benefit in the sense that it enables people to stay together as a
family, to hold a job, to pay taxes and be a normal good citizen."

That is the goal of any drug court, whether it is in Dane County or Racine
County, to break the cycle of addiction that leads so many people back to
jail, Kivlin said.