JUVENILE DRUG COURT PROGRAM SHUT DOWN

Citing budget problems, court officials announced on Wednesday that Pima
County's 3-year-old juvenile drug court program has been discontinued.

Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Deborah Bernini said budget constraints, the
success rate and cost of the program were considered before deciding to
discontinue the program, according to a press release.

"Combating drug use among our youth is one of our biggest challenges,"
Bernini said . "And even if the Drug Court Program had enjoyed 100 percent
success, it was only able to serve 75 children" this fiscal year.

The program, developed in 1997 with a $30,000 federal planning grant, was
aimed at juvenile drug users between 12 and 16 years of age without prior
violent or serious offenses. Individual, group and family counseling, along
with relapse prevention, was stressed over a minimum of seven months. The
goal was to provide specialized treatment so that juvenile drug offenders
could kick their habit.

Gabriela Rico, the court spokeswoman, said juvenile court has a total of
$3.5 million available to treat everyone in juvenile court this fiscal
year. Juvenile Drug Court cost about $427,000 this fiscal year. Rico
estimated that the remaining funds for treatment had to be split among
roughly 1,800 other children, including sex offenders and those who suffer
from mental illness.

"It was just a big chunk of our treatment budget. The state is warning us
we may have to cut as much as 10 percent out of next fiscal year's budget,"
Rico said.

According to a 2001 county audit, the juvenile drug court program had 176
participants with a graduation rate of about 28 percent.