Yolo County Drug Court
The national Drug Court movement celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1999, and Yolo County’s original Drug Court celebrated its fifth anniversary in March, 2000. What began as a radical concept has developed into a true partnership between the courts and the community.
California law allows people with little or no criminal record who are arrested for personal possession of illegal drugs or paraphrenalia, being under the influence of an illegal narcotic or cultivation for personal use to "opt out" of the traditional criminal court process. The state Penal Code allows for "diversion," in which defendants participate in drug treatment and education and have the charges dismissed in return. Before the inception of Drug Court, drug diversion was something like traffic school – offenders took a class, and charges were dismissed. Over time, it became clear that traditional diversion was not working, as many who signed up for it never successfully completed it, and they ultimately ended up convicted.
Drug Court is truly different, and it is the one segment of the justice system in which recovery, tolerance, holistic treatment and personal communication is embraced. Founded in Miami and then in Oakland, CA, Drug Courts operate from a beginning theory that most people who are arrested on drug charges are addicts. For those who are, Drug Court can be life-changing; defendants who are casual users or who were arrested because they were "unlucky" benefit as well, as they receive education, help others along the way and ultimately reach the goal of a criminal dismissal. Drug Court lasts a minimum of six months.
Fast intervention is key, and defendants eligible for Drug Court usually are offered the opportunity to participate at their arraignments – their first court appearance. Once they accept, they are referred to Drug Court and immediately notice how it differs from traditional criminal court. Treatment providers are in the courtroom, and they interact with participants and the judge. Unlike traditional criminal court in which lawyers do most of talking, defendants and the judge talk one-on-one.
Drug Court participants soon learn that Twelve Step meetings – Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous – form the cornerstone of the process. In Yolo County, all Drug Court participants are required to attend three Twelve Step meetings per week and to bring initialed rosters back to court to confirm their attendance. Further, they attend group counseling. Providers do all they can to aid partipants in finding a treatment plan that works for them. Flexibility is stressed; and Drug Court works with participants who live out of the county and out of state. The Drug Court treatment team also acknowledges each participant as a whole person, and they work to help with housing and childcare issues, domestic violence, relationship, grief and mental health counseling and literacy. Urinalysis testing is another key component; particpants are subject to testing in court, at group and at random.
Honesty is rewarded in Drug Court, and relapse is understood and is not met with punishment. Participants are encouraged to disclose problems and relapse to the providers and to the judge. When a defendant struggles with continued drug use, treatment levels increase to daily outpatient, short-term in-house detox up to long-term residential. Jail is used as a sanction, but most people who work their way there do so by either being dishonest with the court or not complying with court orders.
Participants graduate after testing clean for a minimum of six months and fulfilling all program requirements. The graduation ceremonies, which occur once each month, are powerful, with graduates sharing the personal stories and offering encouragement to new participants. The ceremony concludes with criminal case dismissals.
Drug Court is a proven success nationwide, and Yolo County’s original court has served as a model for newer "treatment courts" – Juvenile Drug Court, Dependency Drug Court and Felony Probation Drug Court. Month after month, graduates say that their arrests were the best thing that ever happened to them, because the arrests led them to Drug Court, and Drug Court changed their lives. Many share that they’d been addicts for years and years, and through the intervention of the Drug Court team, they regained jobs, homes, families and their lives.
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Last Updated: 02/23/08