Drug Court Offers Addicts Second Chance

Two graduates of an innovative program that aims to rehabilitate convicted drug addicts received their diplomas Thursday--and had their slates wiped clean.

The two men, 31 and 28, now have no criminal records, and more important, they said, they are drug-free.

“I’m thankful for this program,” said one of the graduates, a Fullerton resident who was arrested last year and charged with possessing methamphetamine.

If not for Drug Court Clinic-Orange County, he said, “I would have spent 190 days in jail without treatment, and I would have lost my job, my two cars, my girlfriend and my baby.”

The 17-month-old Drug Court Clinic offers an intensive drug treatment program to nonviolent addicts.

Orange County Superior Court Judge David T. McEachen presides over bimonthly Drug Court proceedings in Santa Ana, while county Health Care Agency counselors conduct weekly one-on-one and group sessions with the program’s 37 participants.

Consultants provide job training, and probation officers monitor participants’ progress for at least a year. Community Service Programs Inc., a nonprofit agency, handles administration for the program and provides funds for it.

“The research is showing that this is extremely effective,” said Barbara S. Flippone, the program’s coordinator. “These men and women go through the program and are working, taking care of their families and getting involved in their community.”

Participants are required to attend the counseling sessions, submit to sporadic drug searches and weekly urine tests, and hold a job. Failure to complete the regimen means sanctions ranging from three-page essays to community service and jail time.

Officials said their aim is to have 100 participants involved in Drug Court by January as the program is expanded countywide.

Jeffrey S. Tauber, president of the National Assn. of Drug Court Professionals, said it costs less than $2,000 annually to operate each program. That compares to a cost of $25,000 to keep one person in jail for a year, he said.

In addition, recidivism has been dramatically reduced because of the “common sense” drug courts, said Tauber, who runs a Municipal Court drug program in Oakland.