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SALT LAKE CITY -- Drug addiction is a powerful force that leaves a trail of broken lives behind it. All week, we've had stories coming out of felony drug court, now we're taking a different look -- inside family drug court.
Family drug court is for defendants who come before the court on child welfare matters, or who have children who are dependents.
The woman in this story has lost everything -- her marriage, her children, and she nearly lost her life, but now she says thanks to family drug court, she has a fresh start.
Christi Dees' youngest daughters are too little to remember what life was like when their mom was an addict, but the older girls haven't forgotten.
Sixteen-year-old Courtney Stovall says, "She wasn't there, like mentally. She would be there and you could talk to her, but she wouldn't remember anything you told her."
For years, their mom was in a drug-induced haze -- addicted to meth and cocaine. It's a life she now can't believe she was a part of.
"It's horrible," says Christi Dees. "It's like being in hell. I don't ever want to go back to hell."
Her drug use began with her now ex-husband. She says he was an alcoholic and drugs became a way for them to escape from their troubles.
"He'd bring something home on the weekends and we'd have just a little cocaine on the weekends," recalls Christi. "I was sober the rest of the week. I had kids to take care of."
Years of ups and downs and drug use went by, and the physical abuse began. Their marriage had an ugly ending. Soon after her divorce, she remarried -- this time to a drug dealer. He too was physically abusive and beat her so badly, he nearly killed her.
She says, "It was the same mess, just with somebody else."
Drugs and abuse became her norm until one night in 2008 when police came banging on their door.
"I stayed in jail for nine days," she says. "I had missed Christmas and that was traumatic for me; I had never missed Christmas with my kids."
A few months later, Christi was admitted into the family drug court program. The Department of Child and Family Services stepped in to care for her children. But getting clean wasn't easy.
She says, "I couldn't pass the drug tests. I failed, so I couldn't see the kids anymore. And I couldn't stop even though I knew what was at stake and that I would lose my kids. I couldn't stop."
The judge sent Christi to an inpatient rehab program, while she was in custody, and slowly she started to change.
She says she realized that "life can be different. It doesn't have to be like this. And this isn't anything. It's not a life."
On her last day in court, Christi had a fresh start. She had again had custody of her children and was in school.
She says, "Day by day, every minute, as long as it's not what you did yesterday, it's better … as long as you're sober one more day, it's a better day."
Next came graduation day and a chance to thank Judge Kim Hornak, who she says gave her her life back.
She told the judge, "You have given my family the greatest gift of all, a sober mother."
Judge Hornak says, "I'm very proud of her accomplishments and the successes that I know that she will have. I know that she will go on to give back to society, and I know that her children will as well."
And her children may just be the proudest people in the audience. Her daughter says, "I just think that we're going to have a better time as a family and it will be a lot better."
During her graduation speech, Christi said, "To all the graduates we should be proud of ourselves for making it all the way, we did it. And this is a time to move forward for a brighter, happier, and sober future."
E-mail: jstagg@ksl.com
