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The Cook County Shore Substance Use Recovery Court (SURC) celebrated its fifth anniversary on October 19, 2021. Six people have graduated from the Court program that covers both Cook and Lake counties, and currently has 13 people enrolled.
“We are a hybrid Treatment Court, meaning we take those with drug and DWI offenses,” said Courtney Parzych, Treatment Court Coordinator for the Sixth Judicial District of MN. “Our mission is to provide evidence-based intervention to high-risk, high-need offenders with substance use disorders by requiring increased accountability and restoring participants to law-abiding productivity and empowering them to change their lives.”
SURC uses a non-adversarial approach that features the prosecutor and defense counsel collaborating as part of a team that also includes a tribal representative, law enforcement, probation, social services, local treatment providers, and Parzych. Every two weeks, participants appear before the judge, which is an essential component of the program. Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Michael Cuzzo presides over SURC. Throughout the program, participants submit to random drug tests and cooperate with treatment programs. As each phase is completed, they get closer to graduating. Typically, participation lasts a minimum of 14 months, but some people need more recovery time. A participant could remain in the program longer due to setbacks, such as failing drug tests or missing court.
To enter the program, participants must have a felony level criminal charge, a substance use disorder, and be high-risk and high-need based on a risk and needs triage. Probation officers, lawyers, or judges can make referrals to the Court. When a participant graduates, his or her charges may be reduced or dismissed, but a failure to graduate could eventually result in jail or prison.
Substance use recovery courts began in 1989 in Miami-Dade County, Florida, due to a growing number of people addicted to crack or cocaine who kept appearing before the courts for non-violent offenses. A group of justice officials realized the system wasn’t working for defendants, as well as prosecutors, so they developed a novel approach that included structured drug treatment through a team of people who work with offenders under the authority of a judge.
In 2016, Cook County began steps to form the SURC. At that time, Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken explained that in a traditional case, a prosecutor charges a defendant, the judge or a jury determines guilt, and if found guilty, the defendant is either incarcerated or released into probation. “The defendant doesn’t see the judge or attorneys again until/unless he or she has violated probation and is being punished for it,” said Hicken. “Success and periods of sobriety aren’t rewarded or recognized in traditional cases, and the overall health of the whole person (environmental, physical, social, etc.) is not addressed by the court system. Mandates for treatment are often unsuccessful. The person comes out on the other end having been punished, but perhaps not healed, and ends up back in the system.” However, in the SURC, strategies include extended probation, frequent appearances before a judge, periodic meetings with probation officers, and staggered sentencing, which breaks up jail time into segments and allows the participant to earn reductions in jail time with good behavior and regular alcohol and drug testing. “Research shows that this approach has proven more effective than traditional court strategies at reducing repeat offenses, improving public safety, and saving taxpayer dollars,” said Hicken. “This is especially true for certain offenders, such as those having a high-risk recidivism potential.”
In Minnesota, reduced recidivism results in a public savings of $4,288 for each participant. Nationwide, 75 percent of treatment court graduates remain arrest-free for two years.
Enrollees in the program find it isn’t easy. “We demand accountability,” said Parzych. “We meet twice a month and discuss the good and the bad and celebrate the small wins.”
“For everybody going through a program who wants to clean up their lives, I advise them to get a sponsor,” said one Cook County graduate of the SURC. “They will hold you accountable when you slip, and they will help guide you so you can make the changes you need to make.”
Another win, said Parzych, is that some graduates become peer recovery specialists, and return to help others in the community.
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