DRUG COURTS TRY TO DO JUSTICE TO YOUNG LIVES

Programs Can Also Help Break Family Cycle of Drug Abuse, Advocates Say

FARMINGTON - Brad Ulrich can spot a methamphetamine addict from 100 yards away.

They are skeletal, vacant-eyed, their teeth gray and rotting.

"Physically, it's a horrible thing, what meth does to the body," said
Ulrich, coordinator for the 11th Judicial District Drug Court in
Farmington. "I don't know how they can put that stuff into their
bodies."

But what it does to their children and families is even worse, he said.

"It rips families apart," he said. "It really destroys families."

Drug courts are one way to begin to repair those families and treat
the addict, who might otherwise become another number in the state's
burgeoning prison system.

And it's not just adult offenders who can be referred to drug courts.
Less than two years ago, the 11th District also added a Juvenile Drug
Court for offenders as young as 13.

Ten juvenile drug courts and six adult drug courts are scattered
across New Mexico. Bernalillo County has one of each.

Advocates say the program treats the problems of addiction rather
than warehouses the addict in prison until he or she is released,
relapses and commits another crime.

"It's a cost-effective program alternative to prison," said Erma
Sedillo, statewide Drug Court coordinator. "It's an investment for
life."

Drug courts are rigorously supervised treatment programs that require
frequent and often random drug screenings, family and group
counseling, regular meetings with a judge, rewards and punishments.

"We keep the clients so busy they don't have time to relapse," said
Ulrich, whose district covers San Juan and McKinley counties in the
Four Corners area. "But we also give them the tools to stay clean."

Clients - who are referred to the program by a judge, probation
officer or attorney - must have been convicted of a crime. Some drug
courts only take clients whose crimes are nonviolent.

Juvenile drug courts especially focus on breaking the cycle of
substance abuse that is often generations old in a client's family,
Sedillo said. In many cases, it's the first time a young drug abuser
receives such intensive supervision and support, she said.

"These juveniles come in as such broken spirits," Sedillo said. "They
are clueless as to what recovery is. They don't know what healthy is."

Those who fail a drug test or don't show up for a meeting are
immediately jailed for a day or two.

"That immediate consequence is unique to the drug court," she said.
"And it works."

Juvenile drug courts cost an estimated $8 per participant per day -
or about $3,000 a year, Sedillo said.

By comparison, it costs the state about $35,000 a year to incarcerate
a juvenile offender for a year, corrections authorities said.

"They are also considerably less than residential treatment centers,"
said Barry Sigmon, case manager for the Juvenile Drug Court in
Farmington.

From 70 percent to 80 percent of participants in adult and juvenile
drug courts in New Mexico successfully complete the program, Sedillo
said.

Statewide, about 3,000 clients have completed the juvenile and adult
programs since 1995, Sedillo said.

Recidivism rates vary from district to district, but on average about
10 percent of the graduates find themselves back in jail a year after
they complete the program.

So far, about 30 clients have graduated from Farmington's Adult Drug
Court since its creation in October 1997, Ulrich said. Of those, only
two have re-offended, he said.

It's too soon yet to chart the success of Farmington's Juvenile Drug
Court, Sigmon said. Those figures aren't expected until the end of
the program's second year. Currently, 22 youths are participating;
four have graduated with seven more nearing completion of the
program, he said.

Many juvenile drug courts, including Farmington's, are funded through
juvenile accountability incentive block grants from the state
Children, Youth and Families Department. Limited grants are also
available through the federal Justice Department's Drug Court Program
Office.

Many of the state's drug courts could be in jeopardy when those
grants run out and the Legislature fails to continue to fund them,
Sedillo said.

Farmington's Juvenile Drug Court, for example, is funded federally
through two more years, said Jennifer Jackson, the court's
administrative assistant.

Two bills have been introduced in this year's Legislature to preserve
or expand the drug courts.

Sedillo said she hopes more state money will be funneled into the
programs to expand them.