COURT WILL AIM TO KEEP ADDICTS' FAMILIES INTACT

FORT WORTH -- Nine people are gathered in front of Associate Judge
Ellen Smith's bench to discuss the future of a family.

A Tarrant County prosecutor is there, along with a Child Protective
Services social worker and attorneys for the father, mother and
children. In the middle stands a fidgeting 28-year-old woman from
Arlington hoping to get her children back.

Smith is told that the mother is trying to clean up her act: She
attends counseling sessions, works the midnight shift as a waitress
and sees her kids every weekend. But recently the mother stumbled:
She tested positive for cocaine.

During 13 years on the bench, Smith has heard that story too many
times. Still, it tears at her heart.

"Some cases are more heartbreaking than others," Smith said with a
weak smile after finishing a docket in which half the cases dealt
with drug-addicted mothers on the verge of losing their kids for
good. "I'm looking for some success stories."

In an attempt to find more happy endings, Smith recently joined a
team of judges, prosecutors, social workers and defense attorneys
working in a new family drug court with the goals of protecting
children and reuniting families.

Over the next year, 20 mothers who give birth to drug-exposed babies
will get a chance to go through an intensive program in an effort to
bring the children back home. Team members will become so intimately
involved in the mothers' lives that they will literally walk them
from the maternity ward to the courtroom and then to a rehab center.

Since the court started its work, this month, a 16-year-old girl has
entered the program and is undergoing in-patient drug
rehabilitation. She tested positive for cocaine and delivered a
drug-exposed baby in November.

State District Judge Jean Boyd, the county's chief juvenile court
judge, estimates that drugs are involved in 98 percent of the cases
in which a child is removed from a home. County officials say 55
percent to 60 percent of those children end up in adoptive homes.

Although taking children from their mothers protects them from
immediate harm, it ultimately inflicts a tremendous emotional toll
on the child and adds to the stress on a crowded foster care system,
officials said.

"It is a never-ending cycle I'd like to break," Boyd said.

Prosecutor James Teel said he's heard all of the excuses about
missing counseling sessions, not checking in with a social worker,
failing a urine test. After eight years of dealing with those cases,
he's ready to try something new.

"It's easy to terminate their rights," Teel said. "But if you can
create stability with the parents in sobriety, if you can create
economic stability, housing stability, these kids are better off
with their birth parents."

Intensive care

Mothers on methamphetamine or cocaine may find out about the new
court soon after their babies are born.

When a drug-exposed infant is born, the hospital will call Child
Protective Services. An investigator will meet with the mother at
the hospital and determine whether she is a good candidate. Ideal
applicants are women who are giving birth to their first or second
child and have no history of violent criminal behavior and no
serious mental health issues.

Within days, the mother will meet Smith at the courthouse to learn
about the program. Also at the hearing will be her attorney, mental
health experts, family counselors and treatment providers.

If the mother enters the program, she will be assessed and possibly
whisked to a treatment facility or program that day. If the father
is involved, the court will work with him, but its focus will be on
the mother and child.

It can now take weeks to get a drug-addicted mother help, so the new
program is a drastic change. "If you don't get control of these
people early on, you never will," Teel said.

In her first four months with the program, the mother will have
daily contact with the court through a family team meeting. She will
be asked to take drug tests twice a week, attend weekly
administrative hearings and see Smith once a month.

Over the next six months, she will see social workers less
frequently as the program focuses on developing skills to deal with
her addiction and with life in general. A court representative will
see the mother every three months.

During the final two months, contact with the case manager will drop
to once a week, and drug testing and administrative reviews will
occur monthly. If all goes well, Smith's last review will come as
the case is discharged and the child returned for good.

Agencies involved will also coordinate their efforts to prevent
increased pressure on the mother. For instance, a mother's
anger-management problems may be handled in counseling rather than
by making her take another class.

"These cases are real frustrating because it's hard to get everyone
on the same page," Teel said. "And while the services are already
provided, for some reason they don't jump on the fast-moving train
to get their lives back on track."

Through it all, the judge, prosecutor and caseworkers will offer the
mother continual feedback. Rewards for good behavior will include
not only freedom from drug testing and court appearances but also
items such as gift certificates from local stores.

But the biggest prize dangled in front of the mother will be the
return of the child.

Changing behavior

It is important to get mothers to buy into their treatment, and one
way to do that is to treat the whole person, said Holly McFarland,
the court's coordinator. McFarland is a lawyer and social worker at
Tarrant County Challenge.

"They realize that you are treating them like human beings,"
McFarland said. "We want to work with those motivated to change."

Smith and others are convinced that the program will work, but
family drug courts are relatively new and have not been studied
extensively. There are 250 family drug courts nationwide, including
seven others in Texas.

But similar problem-solving courts have existed in other parts of
the justice system since 1989, when the first drug court was opened,
in Miami, during a crack cocaine epidemic. There are now more than
1,600 nationwide, including at least 90 in Texas.

Tarrant County has three specialized courts: Drug Impact
Rehabilitation Enhanced Comprehensive Treatment (Direct); the Felony
Alcohol Intervention Project (FAIP), a DWI court; and a juvenile drug court.

All can show that their approach has worked. Eighty-seven percent of
those who go through the Direct program do not reoffend, while
during the DWI court's one-year run, one participant has committed a
new offense, and two did not complete the program and were sent to
prison. In the juvenile drug court, 87 percent successfully
completed the program.

A study by Southern Methodist University also shows that for every
dollar spent in a specialized court, taxpayers save $9, Teel said.

"I think that all of the courts have to be concerned with people
changing their behavior and not just getting locked up for their
offenses," said state District Court Judge Sharen Wilson, who was
key in starting the DWI court.

If the family drug court had existed six months ago, staff would
have already run additional drug tests on the 28-year-old Arlington
mother, and she would be attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings more
than twice a month, Teel said.

She would also probably be a lot closer to getting her kids back.

Holistic approach

The new Tarrant County family drug court is a $175,000 pilot project
being paid for with public and private money.

The program received a $100,000 grant from the Sid Richardson
Foundation and a $25,000 grant from the Ryan Foundation. Gov. Rick
Perry awarded the program $50,000 through the Texas Drug Court Program.

Among the community partners involved in the program:

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County

Tarrant County Defense Bar

Tarrant County Challenge

Lena Pope Home

Recovery Resource Council

Court Appointed Special Advocates

Source: Tarrant County Family Drug Court