MANY EMPLOYERS STILL WARY OF HIRING DRUG COURT PARTICIPANTS

For six months Robby Evans visited temporary employment agencies in
Owensboro hoping to be hired for a job.

Each time he would complete a job application but was never approached with
an offer because, he believes, of his participation with Daviess County
Drug Court.

The name of the program conjures negative images that frighten many
employers from taking the risk of hiring the applicant. But drug court
represents a strictly monitored group who are more reliable than many other
applicants, said Daviess Circuit Judge Tom Castlen, who oversees the program.

"Many times employers don't know what they're getting," Castlen said. "With
drug court, you really can't find a more structured individual."

Evans, who is now in his fifth month of full-time work at DBM Technologies
Inc., is one of 26 men and women participating in the rigorously monitored
program that gives Daviess County residents an alternative to jail. Each
participant faces nonviolent charges related to substance abuse.

The program is a minimum of 50 weeks and combines mandatory sobriety from
alcohol and drugs with therapy and random drug testing. Participants have
homework assignments and are required to have three months of continuous
employment.

Evans, 30, abused drugs for 15 years before an arrest put him in jail, he
said. The arrest was a major turning point that led him to drug court,
where freedom from drugs gave a new perspective on life to himself and his
son, he said.

"I wouldn't trade being clean for anything in this world," Evans said.
"I've seen a different way of life, and I want to work. I can't wait to work."

Drug court participant Jeff Pulliam, 20, currently balances two jobs.
Pulliam said he knew the owners of the businesses and that helped him get
hired. Otherwise, he would have struggled to find a third-shift job like
many of the others, he said.

Pulliam works as assistant supervisor at the Opportunity Center at 731
Jackson St. and works evenings at Old Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q at 338 Washington St.

Larry Bratcher, who is Pulliam's supervisor at Opportunity Center, said he
has watched his longtime employee change during the past year he has been
involved with drug court.

Pulliam shows up each day more energetic, caring and responsible than he
once was, Bratcher said.

"He's a great worker, a tremendous worker," Bratcher said. "In fact, I'd be
kind of lost without him."

Bratcher said the company frequently helps people who are overcoming
previous problems, including drugs. Most of the people at the company are
not in drug court, he said. Those that are demonstrate a sincere interest
in improving their lives, he said.

"Everybody needs chances in life, and you shouldn't ever give up on a
person," Bratcher said.

Drug court employees know that each day of work is important because there
is someone in the program who will check their pay stubs to ensure they
have shown up. If the participants skip work or violate the rules of the
program, they know they will face consequences, including the possibility
of jail time.

Forty people have entered drug court since its inception in Daviess County
in August 2000. Eight people have graduated, and five people have been
dismissed from the program, Castlen said.

Lora McCarty has served as coordinator of drug court since November.
McCarty said the program is adjusted to each individual and treats the
underlying causes of the addiction.

The graduates of the program are monitored for six months after they leave,
McCarty said. The program evolves with the participants, she said.

"I feel like we just get better with it all the time," McCarty said.

Each week participants are randomly screened for drugs three times and
attend a minimum of three Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous
meetings. Twice each week they attend group therapy and meet individually
with McCarty.

They write entries in a journal and often juggle homework assignments such
as reading current news articles or studying topics such as relapse
prevention, she said.

Meth is the most commonly abused drug that people in drug court deal with,
followed by cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. A few of the younger people in
drug court, ages 18 and 19, abused ecstasy, but that is uncommon among the
older participants in drug court, Castlen said.

To house a healthy inmate in jail for one year costs between $15,000 and
$16,000, but many inmates bring additional expenses with dental or medical
needs, Castlen said.

In comparison, drug court costs between $1,500 to $2,500 per participant
each year, he said. If not for drug court the person would be lodged in jail.

The benefits of sobriety extend beyond the reformed drug user, to children
and families.

"It's very moving when parents, children, spouses and siblings talk to you
about the trauma and disruption their lives had been in prior to their
loved one's recovery," Castlen said. "We're not going to save the world,
but we're saving a life here and there and a family along the way."

Terry Cook, 23, said sobriety with drug court has brought changes with his
family that make everything worthwhile.

"My family would give me the keys to their house now," Cook said. "Now you
can sit around and play with your kids and remember what you've done."

Cook said employers should realize that drug court participants will show
up on time and take their roles seriously.

"You know how we're going to come in, because we've got a judge behind us
telling us what to do," Cook said. "We have a lot more to lose than an
average employee."