On December 10 Sixth Judicial District Treatment Court Judge Michael Cuzzo presented Curt Everson with a plaque signifying that Curt has completed Cook County Substance Use Recovery Court. Curt is the second person to have completed the program since its inception. Photo courtesy of Aleesha Ward
After years of battling substance abuse addiction, Curt Everson hit bottom. He needed help and it came through the court system, plus a lot of other providers who were ready to work with him.
“Curt came into our program in August 2017,” said Aleesha Ward, 6th District treatment coordinator of the Cook County Substance Use Recovery Court.
“Since its inception, Cook County Substance Abuse Court (SURC) has accepted seven participants; two of whom have since graduated,” she said.
Recovery Court is designed to provide intervention with substance abuse offenders by requiring increased accountability, empowering people to change their lives and restoring participants to law-abiding productivity.
The primary purpose is to use the court’s authority to reduce crime by changing a defendant’s substance abuse behavior. Eligible respondents who agree to participate and follow the recommendations receive dismissed charges or reduced sentences.
Cook County recovery court accepts “high risk, high need clients only,” people who are drug-or alcohol-dependent and have been charged with DWI, drug possession, and other serious crimes,” Ward said.
Defendants involved in cases involving violent crimes are not eligible for the program.
The program is a collaborative between judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, treatment providers, probation officers, law enforcement, and educational and vocational experts.
Yearly costs range from $2,240-$2,700 for adult drug court while family drug/ hybrid courts range from $3,300-$4,470 per year. Juvenile drug court is more expensive, at about $12,800, but those costs can be higher because children sometimes have to be removed from the home.
Probation officers, lawyers or judges make referrals to drug court. The minimum time spent in the program should be more than 12 months, with supervision and judicial oversight slowly decreasing as clients move through the phases.
In a traditional case Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken has said a prosecutor charges a defendant, the defense attorney defends the case, the judge and jury determine guilt, and the defendant is either incarcerated or released into probation.
“The defendant doesn’t see the judge or attorneys again until/unless they have violated probation and they are being punished for it. Success and periods of sobriety aren’t rewarded or recognized,” said Hicken. “The overall health of the ‘whole person’ (environmental, physical, social, etc.) is not addressed by the court system and mandates for treatment are often unsuccessful.”
Recovery Court uses a non-adversarial approach and prosecution, and defense counsel collaborates in the process. Every two weeks participants appear before the judge, an essential component of the program. Participants submit to random drug tests and cooperate with treatment programs. As each phase is completed, participants get closer to “graduating.”
The cost of putting someone through Recovery Court is much cheaper than placing some in jail or prison. Costs to incarcerate someone in the U.S. range from $31,000 to $60,000 per year depending upon which state they are in.
Because of the collaboration of agencies which take part in Recovery Court, those efforts reduce the financial burden on the public. Locally, the North Shore Recovery Court team consists of Judge Michael Cuzzo, Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken, a public defender, Cook County law enforcement, probation, Social Services, local treatment providers and Coordinator Ward.
Over the last year, said Aleesha, “Our Lake County neighbors have been working through the same nationally recognized training processes for treatment court implementation – to obtain formal sanctioning by the state; a process that will bring our two teams (Lake County and Cook County) into a dual-county program.”
Each county has separate teams, apart from their Judge (Mike Cuzzo), public defender (Dan Lew, 6th District Public Defender’s Office) and Coordinator (Ward, Sixth Judicial District).
The program structure and policy will be mirrored by both counties, with some practice differences in line with available resources, as appropriate.
Mission
The mission of the Shore Substance Use Recovery Court (SURC) is to increase community safety and foster healthy families through a program of team-based interventions directed at substance abuse offenders. These interventions increase offender accountability while empowering them to make healthy decisions leading to law-abiding productivity and reduced recidivism.
Treatment courts aren’t new, but when they are set up with the right support system and willing participants, they tend to work well.
“The Sixth Judicial District has a proud history stretching back to 2002 of providing excellent, innovative services and influencing positive changes to criminal justice reform through its Treatment Courts,” said Ward. “The district’s vision and strategic direction is to have a Treatment Court in every county and every courthouse, to better serve offenders and the community.
“The Lake County SURC is in the final stages of completing its program structure, and is on the agenda for formal sanctioning in January 2019,” Ward said.
Goals
The Shore SURC program is a collaborative effort involving a number of public and private agencies and organizations. The court is a dual county program and based in Grand Marais, Cook County and Two Harbors, Lake County, Minnesota. The SURC program began planning operations in February 2016, with Cook County becoming officially sanctioned in 2016, and Lake County following in 2019.
While Curt is the second person to graduate from the program, Cook County SURC has accepted seven other participants. It’s a lot of work for all involved—especially the person agreeing to meet the many demands and follow the rules placed on them to stay in the program— but once done, everyone comes out ahead, and it’s hard to argue with success like that.
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