Greg Barnier gave a report on the trends he has been seeing during his time as Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor for Cook County Public Health. Several times at the Human Services Board on August 16, Barnier said the focus of his office and that of probation is to help people in those programs to “get better.”
To that end, Barnier told the Human Services Board, the county is beginning to offer “Recovery Court” in September. Recovery Court is sometimes referred to as “Drug Court.”
Barnier said Recovery Court will be available to six to eight people a year, clients he described as “high risk, high need clients.” He said high risk people are those at high risk of re-offending, of using drugs or alcohol again. High need clients are those that don’t have a job, education, a place to live or who face some other difficult situation.
Recovery Court uses a non-adversarial approach and prosecution and defense counsel collaborate. Every two weeks participants appear before the judge, an essential component of the program, said Barnier. Participants must submit to random drug tests and cooperate with treatment programs. As they complete each phase, they get closer to “graduating.”
Barnier said his office has had three clients involved in “a sort of a made up Drug Court” during the last year in which they received random drug tests and visited with the judge every couple of weeks. “They just graduated,” he said.
“The judge has been very supportive; the attorney is very supportive. If they come with a dirty UA [urine analysis drug test] they don’t get thrown in jail anymore, they get encouraged to keep working on their treatment program, trying to get clean…The judge is telling them he is proud of them. All of these people are doing better.
“Drug Courts work,” said Barnier.
Aleesha Ward, 6th District Treatment Courts coordinator, agrees. In a follow-up conversation with the Cook County News- Herald, Ward explained that the Recovery Court program is a collaborative effort involving a number of public and private agencies and organizations. “Operational planning began in February 2016 and we are in the final process of having approval from the Drug Court Initiative and judiciary council,” said Ward.
She said the mission of Recovery Court is to provide intervention with substance abuse offenders by requiring increased accountability, empowering people to change their lives and restoring participants to law-abiding productivity. Ward said, “This will create a safer community by reducing repeat offenders and drug related activities.”
Ward said Minnesota now has over 55 treatment court programs. Programs vary from wellness courts, recovery programs, drug and DWI specific courts, hybrid programs, and veterans’ courts.
Duluth was the first in the district to establish a treatment court back in 2002. “Over the years the others have been created, and we are very excited to have one on the shore!” said Ward.
Collaboration of agency efforts will reduce the financial burden on the public, added Ward. The Cook County Substance Use Recovery Court team consists of Judge Michael Cuzzo, local treatment providers and Coordinator Ward.
The 6th district is currently made up of five treatment courts; Duluth treatment court, Duluth mental health court, Duluth DWI court, Carlton County treatment court, and the Range Hybrid court service in both Hibbing and Virginia. Cook County’s Recovery Court is the first treatment court to serve the North Shore area.
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