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BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — One Gallatin County woman's drug abuse started when she was just 14 years old. No drugs were off the table.
"I did everything, really," said the woman, who asked that she not be named for this story, before adding that heroin, methamphetamine and prescription pills accounted for a bulk of her use.
Her life finally turned following a 2013 arrest when she was found with 21 opiate pain pills and charged with felony possession of dangerous drugs. She spent 176 days in the Gallatin County jail.
"My family thought that was the safest place for me," she said.
She tried going to treatment on her own prior to her arrest, but, "I wasn't fully ready to do it."
As part of her sentence on the felony drug charge, the woman was ordered to complete the Treatment Court program.
She began in April 2014 but still didn't jump right on board with recovery, continuing to use drugs she knew wouldn't show up on her regular drug screenings.
But the woman decided to be "rigorously honest" and came clean with her relapses. She graduated from Treatment Court in September and has been sober now for more than a year.
For her, Treatment Court gave her structure that she didn't have before.
"I feel like I was so far gone. I felt there was no coming back," she said. "Now, I'm stable. Life is happening. It feels amazing."
"If I didn't have Treatment Court, who knows where I would be right now?" she said. "I don't even want to think about that."
"I just want to be a good, productive member of society, a good mother, a good wife," she said. "I just want to be a good person."
Treatment Court is an alternative to prison for defendants diagnosed as chemically dependent. The 18-month program requires participants to stay sober, attend treatment and support meetings, and meet with the judge every two weeks, among other requirements.
Participants range in the type of crimes they've committed, but in all cases substance abuse is a motivating factor in the person's criminal conduct. The program accepts both felony and misdemeanor defendants, but does not accept sexual offenders, drug dealers or violent offenders.
The five key principles of Treatment Court are sobriety, honesty, integrity, responsibility and service.
In addition to the judge, the program is managed by a team that includes representatives from probation, the Gallatin County Attorney's office, defense attorneys and a psychologist.
At the beginning of their time in the program, participants sign a contract to abide by the rules. If they don't comply, the judge can enforce immediate sanctions, such as requiring a range of punishments from community service or a fine, to increased testing or jail.
The program is now 16 years old in Gallatin County and officials agree that it has been successful in helping rehabilitate addicts, in reducing crime and in keeping people out of jail.
"It (has) proven to be successful," said Steve Ette, Treatment Court coordinator.
"I think we're successful with the people who graduate. We're providing a service that is needed," said Gallatin County Chief Deputy Attorney Eric Kitzmiller.
"You can't fix an addict just by locking them up. It just doesn't work that way," said Gallatin County District Court Judge John Brown, who has presided over the program for more than five years. "We're here to offer support."
In the 16 years since Gallatin County Treatment Court began, 261 of 479 defendants who have been screened were accepted into the program. Of those, 131 have completed the program, making the graduation rate 50.2 percent.
In the past three years, of the 36 people who have graduated, only three have been convicted of another felony offense.
There are 30 drug courts across Montana. A 2014 report done by the Montana Judicial Branch analyzed data from those courts between 2008 and 2014.
In that time frame, 831 participants graduated from Montana drug courts for an overall graduation rate of 58.9 percent, which is on par or better than national rates, the report said. Those graduates, the report said, committed 145 re-offenses for an overall re-offense rate of 25.6 percent.
Gallatin County's Treatment Court, the first adult drug court in Montana, is funded partially by a state grant, as well as a $60,000 annual contribution from the county.
District Court Judge Mike Salvagni oversaw the court for 11 years before Brown took over.
"These people who come into that program come in with a lot of trepidation and fear. They have problems with authority. They don't see the system as something that's trying to help them," Salvagni said. "They come to realize that the judge is someone that understands their challenges. What these people see is that the system isn't an enemy.
"The system, and this program in particular, functions to provide guidance for them and support for them, and to get them living clean and sober, happy, healthy, responsible lives."
Ette credits the team approach to Treatment Court as one of the reasons of its success. The Treatment Court team — comprising Ette, Kitzmiller, defense attorney Kristen Mull-Core, mental health coordinator James Murphey, treatment coordinator Vicki DeBoer and case managers Jamie Michel and Gen Stasiak — meets weekly to discuss every participant.
"We know who is doing what," Ette said. "There is more tracking, there is more structure, there is more immediate response."
And for Brown, Treatment Court gives the judge a different way to interact with criminal defendants.
"I get to know these people better," Brown said. "It's nice to have a chance to help them and keep them from going to jail."
In October, a 26-year-old Bozeman man graduated from the Treatment Court program.
During the graduation ceremony, Brown went over the man's journey, from a felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs conviction due to an "ill fated" plan to sell marijuana at a downtown Bozeman bar, to the judge giving the man an opportunity by sentencing him to Treatment Court.
"As his sentencing judge, I took a chance on (the man). And he has not let me down," Brown said to the graduate. "You are a good man."
During a short speech, the graduate said that he still thinks about using drugs. "I'll be dealing with that the rest of my life," he said.
But he said the Treatment Court team helped him "turn around a lot of things."
"Everything's a blessing in disguise if you choose to look at it that way," he said. "I'm thankful for being accepted into the Treatment Court program."
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Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com
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