DRUG COURT AIMED AT DECREASING YOUTH USE

Program Will Offer Alternative to Incarceration for Juveniles
Committing Lower-Level Offenses

Over the past 15 years, more than 1,000 adult drug courts have spread
from a Miami-based grassroots effort to curb drug-related criminal
activity and offer a treatment-oriented alternative to incarceration.

In that time, drug court proponents have also spread the idea to the
younger crowd. Warren County will soon join the ranks, operating one
of Kentucky's 10 juvenile drug courts.

"We've needed this for years," Warren District Court Judge Jo Anne
Coleman said. "We have tried for several years to obtain the funding
for it, but it just hasn't come through until now."

Warren County Juvenile Drug Court is expected to be fully functional
by mid-August, funded for the first three years by a federal grant.
Kentucky's Administrative Office of the Courts will then adopt the
program into the state budget.

The program will work with 28 juveniles initially, then possibly
expand.

Drug Court Referrals

Juvenile offenders may be referred to drug court -- a voluntary
program -- if they are charged with drug offenses involving possession
but not trafficking. Kids who are addicted to huffing paint won't be
referred, treatment coordinator Brian "Slim" Nash said.

"There are no proven treatment modalities for people who huff," said
Nash, a November candidate for Bowling Green City Commission. "If you
huff for three or four months, you are going to be so severely
mentally limited at the end of that time, there's just no help."

If a drug addiction is detected in other juveniles charged with crimes
such as truancy or shoplifting, those juvenile offenders may be
referred to drug court.

"That idea recognizes that other crimes stem from a drug problem,"
Bowling Green Police Department Officer David Dunn said. "If you can
attack the drug problem in a juvenile's life, then perhaps you will
have curtailed other criminal behavior."

Drug-addled teens charged with violent crimes or sexual offenses will
not be referred to juvenile drug court.

Nash said a treatment-oriented approach, with rewards for progress and
sanctions for negative choices, will be more helpful than detention
for many.

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

The Pioneers

America's first juvenile drug courts were seen in towns such as Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., Buffalo, N.Y., and San Diego. The idea came to
Kentucky in 2001 with Fayette County's program.

The state's nine current juvenile drug courts are located in Fayette,
Kenton, Campbell, Pike, Jefferson, Christian and Letcher counties, as
well as the combined counties of Laurel-Knox and Whitley-McCreary.
Nine more juvenile drug courts are still in the planning phases,
according to Kentucky Drug Court field supervisor Kathy Glenn.

Coordinators for Warren County's program have sought guidance from the
Christian County Juvenile Drug Court, the third to be established in
Kentucky.

The program there met some resistance upon its inception four years
ago, said Christian County District Court Judge James G. Adams Jr.,
who presides over the county's juvenile drug court.

"Some people have the mistaken idea that this is soft on crime," he
said. "My response to that is, we have waged the war on drugs for a
long time, and all we've really succeeded in doing is continually
criminalizing drug use and making the penalties harsher, and we now
have the highest incarceration rate of any civilized country in the
world."

Adams said juvenile drug court works much the same way as adult drug
court, though the juvenile program tends to use rewards more often as
a motivation tool.

"My main concern was, 'What's the carrot?'" Adams said. "What's the
carrot to entice (juvenile offenders) to get into this program,
because it's voluntary.

"We found out the key thing is to get the parents sold on it because
they may not have gotten a hold on (their child's) drug use and they
may be searching for answers."

Parental Responsibility

"One thing I've seen in court is -- you'd be surprised how many of the
kids who do drugs have parents who do drugs," Coleman said.

Parents can make or break juvenile drug treatment, agreed Nash, who
previously spent five years working as a case specialist in Warren
County Family Court and also currently serves as president of the
Bowling Green/Warren County GANGS Board.

"We get a whole lot of cooperation from parents up until the point
where we say, 'Now it's time to alter your behavior as well,'" Nash
said. "You can't effect change in children until you effect change in
the people taking care of them."

In Christian County, parents who wish to involve their kids in
juvenile drug court must first sign an agreement to refrain from drug
use.

"We found out the kids are using because the parents are using," Adams
said. "The parents can be drug-tested and they can be sanctioned if we
find out they are using drugs, and especially in front of their kids."

Parents can detract from juvenile drug court's success not only by
using drugs, but also by denying their children have an addiction,
Adams said.

"There are parents who are very supportive, but then there are those
who try to downplay and cover up that (their child) has a
substance-abuse problem and they want to stick their head in the
sand," he said.

Most Christian County Juvenile Drug Court participants are between the
ages of 13 and 17 and rely on their parents for transportation to
counseling appointments and random drug-testing sessions. Adams said
it further emphasizes the need for parents to behave
responsibly.

Warren County Juvenile Drug Court coordinators are establishing many
policies similar to that of Christian County, including the parental
drug-free agreement form.

"The whole family is going to be involved in the drug court process,"
Nash said.

The special emphasis on strengthening family bonds will be one unique
aspect of Warren County's juvenile drug court program, Nash said.

"So many of these kids have no sense of family," he said. "Dysfunction
leads to substance abuse."

WCJDC participants will keep a journal, writing on topics that are
either assigned or chosen at will. One such assigned topic will be to
interview a family member and write about an interesting aspect of
that person's life.

"Most of these kids come from dysfunctional families, but they might
actually learn something about a family member that will create a
stronger bond," Nash said.

"My understanding is you treat the entire family because if you send
them back into the environment, there's little chance of success, but
if you treat the entire problem, it works better," Coleman said.

The cost of juvenile drug court in Warren County is expected to be
about $15 per participant per day.

The cost of housing a juvenile offender in the Warren Regional
Juvenile Detention Center is about $94 to $120 per day.

With adults, drug treatment costs are only about 10 percent of
incarceration costs.

"We expect to see that kind of savings in the juvenile court program
as well," Nash said, adding that the juvenile program could be
slightly more expensive due to the extra costs of complying with
juvenile confidentiality laws.

Punishment and Rewards

Warren County Juvenile Drug Court will be a three-phase system to last
a minimum of 12 months.

Phase One -- the most restrictive -- does not allow participants to
leave their home. It also requires juveniles to attend three
counseling sessions per week.

Phase Two is a little less restrictive, with only two counseling
sessions per week and a curfew of 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and
11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Phase Three requires one individual counseling session per week with
an 8 p.m. curfew Sunday through Thursday and an 11 p.m. curfew Friday
and Saturday.

Violations of the rules may earn participants increased treatment,
increased random drug testing or community service, among other
things. Incarceration will be the absolute last resort, Nash said.

Rewards for obedience may include gift cards from various retail
stores, CDs and free passes to movies.

Appropriate rewards and sanctions will be determined on a case-by-case
basis. Although the rewards possibilities have yet to be established,
Nash said, WCJDC will likely seek donations from local businesses.

By attempting to positively affect the attitudes, mindsets and
self-esteem of juveniles, the court will aim to encourage more
positive behavior.

"My No. 1 goal is to get kids healthy because healthy people don't
want to use illicit drugs," Nash said. "I want this kid to be healthy
enough at the end of Phase Three to be able to go to school and work
on their own -- to be able to say 'no' on their own."