YOUTH: THEIR DAY IN COURT

Program Works With Juveniles To Steer Them Off Drugs, Alcohol

It's been a tough road for 15-year-old Cody since smoking pot and other
run-ins with the law landed him in drug court in Grand Forks, a program
aimed at intervening in the lives of substance abusing juveniles.

Obeying a curfew, taking random drug tests and meeting regularly with
probation, drug treatment and school officials are just the beginning of
the straight and narrow that Cody is expected to navigate. Two weeks ago, a
slip-up put him in home detention.

In drug court Thursday, however, it was a different story for Cody, who,
along with his mother, gave the Herald permission to use his first name, to
photograph him and to share his story.

"You've had a good week," Judge Karen Braaten told him. "I don't see
anything that went wrong this week." His mom, who had been less than
thrilled when he got home detention, said she'd seen a 180-degree shift in
his attitude since then.

"Cody, you need to be proud of yourself because you have done excellent
this past two weeks," she said.

As a reward, the judge gave him permission to spend the weekend with family
members who had invited him to go dirt biking. It was another step toward
what Cody says is his drug court goal:

"To get out of here and get my charge dropped and get out of probation," he
said. "And to graduate from high school."

Since 2000

Naturally, not every session of drug court goes that well. Still, North
Dakota officials hail the program, now in its sixth year here, as a
success. It may not be the entire answer, Braaten said, but it's certainly
an important part of efforts to keep kids drug-free and out of trouble.

"We give them a fighting chance and sometimes that's all we can give them,"
she said.

Juvenile drug court came to Fargo and Grand Forks in 2000 and since has
been expanded to Bismarck. Police and judges have long noted that a lot of
crime is rooted in substance abuse, which often goes untreated in the
criminal justice system.

"We were seeing the same names over and over and over again because it
doesn't do any good to just send them to jail," North Dakota Supreme Court
Justice Mary Maring said. "They will be using again and they will be right
back in court again."

Instead, in drug court, stakeholders including judges, probation officers,
drug treatment counselors, prosecuting and defense attorneys and school
officials step outside their traditional roles. In Grand Forks, they meet
each Thursday before drug court to talk about each juvenile and how they
are doing. The judge has the final say, but each team member has a say in
how each case should be handled.

Probation Officer Mike Pesch is part of the weekly staffing. He meets each
week with each juvenile in the program, makes home visits with the kids and
their parents and - along with individuals called trackers - randomly
screens the juveniles for drugs and alcohol and checks to see they're
obeying curfew. Each juvenile is held accountable for following the rules,
Pesch said.

"We don't let them get away with anything," he said. "We don't want to hear
any excuses. And then we want to bring stability to their lives so they
know when they break any of these rules, there are going to be consequences."

Just as there are sanctions for messing up, there are rewards for good
behavior. Each Thursday in court, if their review has gone well, juveniles
can become platinum participants, eligible to draw a prize certificate from
the coffee can that Juvenile Drug Court Coordinator Lauren Teetzen brings
to court.

Pesch said his role means getting to know juveniles and their parents
pretty well.

"It's really neat to see a kid who has been struggling and not staying
clean and getting in trouble everywhere else, and to see them come out of
that dark cloud," he said. "They really want to make a change, and it's
great to see that."

Currently, there are four juveniles enrolled in drug court in Grand Forks.
Generally, there are about 12, and most will be in the program for a year.
Drug court is hard work, Pesch said, and those who graduate have earned the
right to be proud.

Accountability

Deb Davis, clinical director for the Center for Adolescent Treatment
Services through Northeast Human Service Center, believes accountability
and team work are a big part of the program's success stories.

"I love the program," Davis said. "I absolutely find it very helpful in
dealing with kids whose primary issues are drugs and alcohol. It's a way to
keep them in the community and deal with them in a community based program."

Drug court takes kids between 14 and 18 years old who face charges related
to truancy, shoplifting, theft, fighting and the like. Juveniles with
violent felony or drug dealing charges are ineligible. Assistant State's
Attorney Nancy Yon said the program makes it clear to participants what is
required of them and what will happen if they miss school, bust curfew,
miss appointments, test positive for drugs or otherwise mess up.

"Depending on the kid, some will take the sanctions and feel very badly,"
Yon said. "Some don't take the accountability as well. They feel the
sanctions are unfair."

When Cody was sanctioned a couple of weeks ago, neither he nor his mother
was happy about it, although his mother agrees now that something positive
came out of it, Yon said.

"If you ask some of the children, and this is generalizing, they will admit
to you that they like the close supervision," Yon said. "We've had some
participants tell us, if they are given the week off (from making a drug
court appearance), they'll say, "No, I want to come back next week.' In
general these kids not only need that, they like it."

Marilyn Moe, state drug court coordinator, oversees the three drug court
programs in North Dakota.

Judge Maring, who helped bring drug court to the state, is generally known
as program director and is a true believer in the program.

"It has opened up communication between all of these entities where there's
never been any before," she said. For program participants, it means
improving their quality of life. For society, it means less crime and more
savings for taxpayers. A year in juvenile drug court costs about $2,500 per
participant. A year in the State Training School at Mandan costs about
$30,000, she said.

For Cody, drug court means he can play Nintendo, spend time with friends,
work out at the Y and do all the other tings he enjoys when he's keeping
out of trouble.

"It makes me do the things I'm supposed to do and not the things I want to
do," he said.