Juvenile drug court graduates 3 teens

Fast facts

Youth Drug Court is a one- year program for children ages 12-17.

  • Phase One: Participants attend weekly court sessions and weekly drug-testing for six months
  •  Phase Two: Participants attend court sessions twice a month, meet with a case manager, and are drug-tested twice a month.(At least three months)
  • Phase Three: Participants attend court, meet with a case manager and are drug tested monthly for three months

Three teenagers became the first to complete a Madison County program designed to combat juvenile substance abuse.
One of the graduates is a 17-year-old college-bound freshmen who scored 32 on the ACT. Another has obtained his GED, and the third was excused from the ceremony because he had just begun working at a full-time job. His mother accepted his diploma.
U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, a former circuit judge who founded the state's first felony adult Drug Court in 1999 in Lincoln, Pike and Walthall counties, spoke at the first graduation ceremony for the Madison County Juvenile Drug Court.

“All of us are going to stumble and fall and make mistakes in our lives,” said Starrett, “but you don't need to be beaten down by it. People make mistakes. Get up and dust yourself off and get moving.”
The Drug Court graduation was privately held at the Madison County Courthouse in Canton. All Youth Court proceedings are closed to the public.

Twenty teens are enrolled in the program. Three were recognized for moving up to Phase Two, and one was promoted to Phase Three.
“I am proud of each and every one of you,” said Drug Court counselor Cara Rios. “It is an accomplishment just to be in the Drug Court.”
The Drug Court team includes Judge Bill Agin, who spearheaded the Madison County program; Rios, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor; a prosecutor; a public defender; law enforcement representatives; and a retired dentist who volunteers his time.
The Madison County Juvenile Drug Court accepts participants ages 12-17 who are referred to the court after having been charged with nonviolent delinquent acts or deemed to be children in need of supervision. The program targets teens with alcohol and drug problems, but the act that brings them into contact with the Youth Court does not have to be a drug or alcohol violation. The one-year program uses early intervention and intensive supervision.

“Pretty much, the experience for all of them is that they hate getting put into it,” Rios said, “but a lot of them tell me later that they are glad they were put into it because it allowed them to get to this point in their lives.”

LaReeca Rucker
5 July 2005

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050705/NEWS01/507050368/1002

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