DOLLARS MAKE IMPACT

Drug Court Seeks Donations to Expand Program For Teens

The first-ever coordinator of Garfield County's juvenile drug court program
has settled into the job and is ready to start raising money to make it
possible to help more teens with substance abuse problems.

Gloria Luttrell and the other members of the drug court team hope to be
able to increase the program's capacity from 12 to 20 participants.

Luttrell expects the fund-raising effort to be successful because local
merchants already have been generous in donating coupons and gift
certificates as incentives to teens in the program.

"The community has been wonderful," she said.

Not that her first look at Enid left her with that impression. Luttrell, a
California native, arrived in Enid on the heels of the Jan. 30 ice storm
that crippled much of northwest Oklahoma.

Still she managed to get settled in her new home and her new job.

Luttrell said she responded to a newspaper advertisement for the drug court
coordinator position even though she didn't have any previous legal experience.

She had been general manager of a small company in Hawaii, and worked as a
self-employed consultant there and in California, before her husband
retired to a teaching position at Northern Oklahoma College-Enid.

Luttrell was chosen from a field of about 40 candidates to run the drug
court program.

The drug court concept, created more than a decade ago, is centered on
intensely supervised, court-ordered drug treatment for participants in a
voluntary program.

The Garfield County program is staffed by a diverse team focusing on each
participant's best interests.

The team includes District Judge John Michael, prosecutor Tim Gungoll,
defense attorney Tim Beebe, a treatment provider from Youth and Family
Services, a juvenile officer and a probation officer from the Office of
Juvenile Affairs. Staff at the city's Community Intervention Center are
responsible for drug tests, both scheduled and unscheduled.

Luttrell said it was tough to get acclimated to her position in the program
because there were no established guidelines when she started.

The drug court team helped her get settled into the non-adversarial format,
she said.

Luttrell said the program currently has nine participants, including one in
the three-month aftercare portion. It can accommodate as many as 12 teens.

Gungoll said he expects the program to fill up in the next month, even
though officials have been selective to ensure there will be an opening for
a teen who really needs to be in drug court.

Medicaid or other health insurance can reduce the cost of helping teens
overcome their drug problems in the program, but a lack of funding is
keeping officials from helping more young people.

Luttrell said Oklahoma Department of Mental Health on Substance Abuse
Services estimates it costs about $4,800 to treat each drug court participant.

"We don't get near that much," she said.

That is why the Garfield County program needs some kind of supplemental
funding. Luttrell estimated $30,000 would be enough to include an
additional 10 participants in drug court for a year.

It takes eight to 12 months for teens to complete the program because
relapses are expected, she said.

"It's not an easy thing to overcome a drug problem," Luttrell said.

Gungoll said drug court is a worthwhile program because it helps make
productive citizens out of teens whose substance abuse problems contribute
to criminal behavior. Most of them aren't in school or making any other
contributions to society.

Drug court helps return some structure to their lives with regular
counseling sessions.

"At the end of that 12 months, we've helped re-establish all the things in
their life that they need to be successful," Gungoll said. "It's an amazing
thing."

Luttrell said she intends to approach local businesses and civic groups for
contributions to bolster the drug court program. She said she is willing to
talk about the program to any interested groups.

Enid and Garfield County officials applied for Department of Justice grants
in early 1998 to start their own drug court programs, but officials
eventually decided to merge their efforts. They ended up with the first
multi-jurisdictional drug court in the country in May 2000.

The city's drug court, which was ended in November 2001, handled juveniles
charged with misdemeanor crimes, or those who generally had less severe
substance abuse problems. The district court has jurisdiction over teens
charged with felonies who are found to have more severe dependency problems.

The county program was able to continue through a grant from the state
Department of Mental Health. Another state grant provided the necessary
funding to hire Luttrell and pay ongoing drug testing costs.