JUVENILE DRUG COURT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL

A juvenile drug court here in Warren County certainly sounds beneficial.

It will become reality in mid-August when Warren County will become the
10th county in the state to offer the program for juveniles.

The idea behind the program is to offer treatment, rather than incarceration.

In a lot of these cases, treatment could benefit juveniles much more than
jail time or house arrest.

The program, which will be voluntary and will initially work with 28
juveniles, will be only be open to juveniles involved in possession cases,
not trafficking cases.

Treatment coordinator Brian "Slim" Nash said it best when referring to kids
who have huffed paint for three or four months - there is just no helping
them through this program.

Rehabilitation could turn troubled juveniles into productive members of
society. But juvenile court shouldn't be used on cases with a low chance of
success, such as habitual paint huffers, according to Nash.

It is certainly worth the effort.

Drug problems sometimes lead to other acts of criminal behavior, such as
shoplifting and burglary.

"Sticking all these kids in jail for using drugs is not necessarily the
answer," Nash said. "For some, it absolutely is. For others, they need help
to turn it around."

If the drug problem is corrected, it just may be possible that other
problems will be corrected as well.

Other counties in Kentucky have had success with juvenile drug court.

Warren County has been receiving guidance from Christian County, which
offers a reward system to participants who excel in the program.

Rewards consists of gift certificates to certain stores, gift cards and
free coupons.

This reward system gives juveniles incentives to change their ways.

Parents must also be personal role models for their children.

Nash said that he has seen a lot of cases where parents come to court and
are on drugs as well.

This is unacceptable and leaves little doubt about why their kids have
drug-abuse problems.

Incarceration has been tried for years as a way to stop drug use among our
youth. In some cases, it is certainly necessary, but alternatives such as
juvenile drug court show promise in turning young lives around.