COURTS TO REQUIRE TREATMENT FOR ADDICTS

Mecklenburg Program Is Designed For Parents Who Lose Custody

Mecklenburg courts, in one of the first initiatives of its kind in the
nation, will soon make drug and alcohol treatment mandatory for all addicts
who lose custody of their children in abuse or neglect cases.

The program, set to start in District Court next month, will make substance
abuse screenings mandatory for parents in the roughly 1,300 abuse or
neglect cases the county handles each year.

Domestic violence and mental illness screenings also will be required.

If substance abuse or other problems are found, treatment is mandatory.
Parents who refuse to obey can be jailed on contempt of court charges for
up to 30 days.

Officials say about 80 percent of all child abuse and neglect cases involve
addicted parents. They believe the new program will protect children by
helping their parents mend their ways.

"Our goal is to keep families together," said Chief District Judge Yvonne
Mims Evans. "The only way we can do that is if we can provide a service to
the parents to help keep them sober, healthy and safe."

Evans placed such a high premium on the new program, called F.I.R.S.T.
(Families in Recovery to Stay Together), that she shut down the county's
juvenile courts Tuesday morning so judges, lawyers, social workers and
others could attend a kickoff training conference.

The program isn't Mecklenburg's first experiment with carrot-and-stick
justice for addicted parents. Since 1999, a family drug treatment court has
offered them a chance to reclaim their children from foster care if they
complete treatment programs.

F.I.R.S.T. expands on that program. But while the family drug treatment
court is voluntary, F.I.R.S.T. is mandatory.

Under the new program, a substance abuse counselor will be stationed at the
courthouse to get people pointed toward treatment immediately after court
hearings.

Addicts will receive treatment plans and F.I.R.S.T. will schedule admission
appointments with rehabilitation centers within 48 hours. Most addicts will
receive treatment as outpatients, but some will go into residential programs.

The program will receive biweekly reports on each addict and results of
weekly urinalysis tests.

Addicts must accept treatment or lose legal rights to their children.

"This is going to be a tremendous help for children and their families,"
said Grayce Crockett, Mecklenburg County's director of mental health,
developmental disabilities and substance abuse services.

The program, a collaboration between the courts, area mental health
officials and the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services, is financed by
the Governor's Crime Commission. F.I.R.S.T. is modeled on a program in San
Diego. Evans said the San Diego program is believed to be the first of its
kind in the nation.

Mecklenburg officials tested the program in District Judge Louis Trosch's
courtroom for six weeks. Of the 13 or so people who went through it, only
two have shown unsatisfactory progress, officials said.

Trosch said the program gets addicts into treatment faster.

"It forces them to realize they've hit rock bottom," he said. "It's real
hard for addicts to sort of look that reality in the face. This program
helps them realize, `I need to do something now or else they're going to
take my children.' "