Published: November 06, 2009 11:19 am      

Juvenile justice... New drug court acts as catalyst for life changes

PRINCETON — Mercer County Family Court Judges Mary Ellen Griffith and Anthony Bisaha know one key to curbing adult crime rests in teaching troubled teens to be productive citizens.

They, along with fellow Family Court Judge Lisa Clark, preside over Mercer County's Juvenile Drug Court, a program designed to keep youthful offenders out of detention while still pushing them away from the illegal substances that got them into legal trouble.

The coercive, community corrections alternative to detention time requires defendants to plead guilty to their non-violent, drug-related offenses and consent to face time in a correctional facility if they're expelled from the program.

Juvenile Drug Court, which accepts defendants ages 10-17, is built on the idea that drug-related crimes can be prevented if teens kick their drug habits while they're still young enough to plot a different future.

“A lot of our crimes, whether they're committed by adults or children, are related to substance abuse. If we stop children sooner, we can stop the crime and save the children, too,” Bisaha said. “We see that we're teaching old dogs new tricks in the adult drug court, so we hope we can teach the young ones a better way of life.”

In order to get into the Teen Drug Court program, a defendant must first be referred to the treatment team with a documented history of drug use or abuse. From there, the team, driven by Teen Drug Court Coordinator Tina Rose, examines the defendant's alleged offenses to ensure the defendant is not accused of a violent crime or one that involves a sex-related motive.

Since the team includes members of the West Virginia State Police, Mercer County Sheriff's Depart-ment, juvenile probation authorities, judges, a representative of the prosecuting attorney's office, a public defender and mental health officials, the scope is comprehensive and includes a wide range of legal and recovery knowledge.

Any teen interested in completing the drug court program, rather than going to detention, must have a parent or guardian willing and able to attend required court appearances and counseling sessions with the defendant. Without adequate, responsible adult support, the judges said they cannot admit a defendant to the program.

“We've been fortunate with the participants we have. They each have a parent or guardian that's working with them,” Bisaha said.

So far, there are three participants, all ages 16-17, in the program that conducted its first hearing in June.

Funded by a grant from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the weekly Juvenile Drug Court sessions work much like those in the Southern Regional Drug Court curriculum.

“The real strength of it is that we're in that kid's life four to five times a week,” Griffith said.

Each participant starts the four-phase program seeing the judge and Southern Highlands counselor at least once weekly. In addition, Rose makes one scheduled visit to the juvenile's home each week, and she makes it a point to drop in unannounced once to check on the participants' progress when they aren't expecting an evaluation.

In addition to holding the teens accountable in court and requiring them to undergo mental health evaluations and counseling sessions, they also complete community service projects designed to serve as a sort of sentence. But, Bisaha said the teens have learned a lot about giving back to their communities and getting involved.

The options for service are varied. One of the current participants gave his time to help students in need at the Wade Center in Bluefield. Another spent the allotted hours cleaning up litter throughout the community.

“For some of them, this is the first structure they've ever had,” Bisaha said. “For the first time in their lives, they're learning structure, scheduling and responsibility.”

The Juvenile Drug Court structure starts out very strict, focusing teens' attention on getting past illegal substances to the real matters of life, while also furthering their education and building employment skills and opportunities. In addition, Griffith and Bisaha said they have seen real differences in the families involved in the program.

One mother is now leaving her job every day at lunch to drive her son, a court participant, to his GED classes. Another participant has been removed from a potentially dangerous family situation and placed in a home with a grandparent, who attends the court sessions with her faithfully.

Although their numbers are small at this point, the judges said they know they're making a big difference.

“You can see real physical changes in these kids. You can see behavioral changes and communication changes,” Bisaha said.

The participants now are in Phase II of the program designed to last at least 10 months and feature after-care to ensure the teens stay on the straight and narrow, even after court appearances cease.

Because of the nature of the court program and the fact that the teens are all juveniles, all identities remain confidential, Griffith pointed out. Even the graduation ceremonies will remain private, but the judges still hope to give the public a glimpse at the operation with an open house Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. in one of the Mercer County Circuit Court courtrooms.

Along with the success of the three participants, Griffith said the celebration will spotlight the widespread cooperation it took to get Juvenile Drug Court operational in Mercer County.

The effort began in recent years with a grant ChildLaw Services Executive Director Shannon Atwell wrote, Griffith explained, but it wasn't until the state Supreme Court caught wind of local interest that the grant funding became available.

The timing was critical, because the announcement arrived just after Mercer County welcomed its third Family Court and Circuit Court judges to the judicial mix, and with a more manageable caseload, Griffith, Bisaha and Clark jumped on board and volunteered to preside over the proceedings.

“We volunteered for it, but it took a lot of cooperation between Family and Circuit Court, and many other people to make sure this could happen ,” Griffith said.

With the judges and treatment team in place, one of Juvenile Drug Court's needs now is referrals from law enforcement officials, probation officers, attorneys and more.

“We're really trying to get the word out now,” Griffith said.

Although their program is too young to tout positive results, both judges said they believed the juvenile court was simply the right thing to do for local youth.

“We don't have the evidence yet, but the national studies all show that the earlier you get to a child, the greater the chance they have of not offending again and living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle,” Bisaha said.

For information on Juvenile Drug Court, contact Rose at (304) 431-8515.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.