AUBURN - A recovery walk on Wednesday recognized locals striving for sobriety and commemorated a local man who worked for years to help people stay sober.
For the second year, the Auburn City Drug Treatment Court held a recovery walk to time with the National Drug Court Month.
“It's an awareness they're in recovery, proud of the fact that they're turning it around,” said Michelle Leonello, director of G.R.A.C.E. House, an alcohol and drug halfway house in Auburn.
About 25 officials and Auburn City Drug Treatment Court clients walked on a warm evening following the presentation by Auburn City Councilor Matthew Smith at city hall of a proclamation by Mayor Tim Lattimore.
“Life's not easy. We all face different paths and obstacles,” Smith said. He noted the growth of alcohol and drug treatment courts from just 12 in 1994 to more than 1,758 in December 2005 with the goal of helping criminal defendants commit fewer crimes by getting sober.
Auburn City Court Judge Michael McKeon praised the 82 graduates of the court. He said the court has only experienced 10-percent recidivism, which in the criminal justice field is an extraordinary success, the judge said.
The walk recognized Timothy Durant, who died in May 2006. He worked for GRACE House's parental unit, Unity House of Cayuga County, starting in 1997 and worked as a case manager for the city's drug court.
“He was a great guy and had a great sense of community,” said Liz Werner, deputy executive director of Unity House. “He had such dedication and compassion for the fields of addiction.”
A plaque and outdoor chair were dedicated in Durant's memory at GRACE House following the walk.
There are 76 clients currently participating in the four-year-old drug court, said Carol Colvin, the court's coordinator. Clients have been as young as 16 and as old as 60. The majority of clients are drunk driving defendants, Colvin said.
Drug court participants facing sentencing for misdemeanor crimes are given a choice between Cayuga County Jail time or the treatment court.
When McKeon first took the bench, he saw a revolving door of defendants coming in and out of the system.
“It wasn't hard to notice they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs or committing crimes to feed their habits,” McKeon said.
The development of the city court is part of a general trend generated by Judith Kaye, the state's chief judge, to have the state's criminal courts include a treatment component for alcohol and other substance abuse.
In Auburn's drug courts, clients must sign a contract and successfully complete three phases before graduating from the program.
In the first phase, they come to court once a week, go to treatment appointments at either Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs or Recovery Counseling three times a week and self-help meetings two times a week and undergo a rigorous regimen of substance abuse testing. They must demonstrate they have been sober for at least three months before they can graduate to the second phase, in which they are given more freedom as they show more responsibility. They come to court twice a month and must demonstrate they have been substance-abuse free for six months. During the third phase, participants come to court once a month and must show they have stayed clean and sober for several more months.
McKeon and his colleagues are acutely aware that relapse is part of the recovery process, so participants are given many chances to achieve sobriety and stay out of jail - as long as they are sincerely striving for that goal.
Before graduating from the program, clients must pay all the fines and restitution related to their crimes and have a full-time job or be in a school program.
In exchange, they receive a conditional discharge rather than jail time and an opportunity “to become law-abiding and productive citizens,” McKeon said.
Structure is maintained by requiring graduates to return every four months for the first year after they graduate from drug court, the judge said.
Colvin and McKeon are delighted at how a light comes on for defendants: that they can live their lives in a healthier - and sober - way. Sometimes estranged family members come back into their lives after they've become sober, they said.
“We see people grow not only in terms of personal change but with health,” McKeon said.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
“It's an awareness they're in recovery, proud of the fact that they're turning it around,” said Michelle Leonello, director of G.R.A.C.E. House, an alcohol and drug halfway house in Auburn.
About 25 officials and Auburn City Drug Treatment Court clients walked on a warm evening following the presentation by Auburn City Councilor Matthew Smith at city hall of a proclamation by Mayor Tim Lattimore.
“Life's not easy. We all face different paths and obstacles,” Smith said. He noted the growth of alcohol and drug treatment courts from just 12 in 1994 to more than 1,758 in December 2005 with the goal of helping criminal defendants commit fewer crimes by getting sober.
Auburn City Court Judge Michael McKeon praised the 82 graduates of the court. He said the court has only experienced 10-percent recidivism, which in the criminal justice field is an extraordinary success, the judge said.
The walk recognized Timothy Durant, who died in May 2006. He worked for GRACE House's parental unit, Unity House of Cayuga County, starting in 1997 and worked as a case manager for the city's drug court.
“He was a great guy and had a great sense of community,” said Liz Werner, deputy executive director of Unity House. “He had such dedication and compassion for the fields of addiction.”
A plaque and outdoor chair were dedicated in Durant's memory at GRACE House following the walk.
There are 76 clients currently participating in the four-year-old drug court, said Carol Colvin, the court's coordinator. Clients have been as young as 16 and as old as 60. The majority of clients are drunk driving defendants, Colvin said.
Drug court participants facing sentencing for misdemeanor crimes are given a choice between Cayuga County Jail time or the treatment court.
When McKeon first took the bench, he saw a revolving door of defendants coming in and out of the system.
“It wasn't hard to notice they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs or committing crimes to feed their habits,” McKeon said.
The development of the city court is part of a general trend generated by Judith Kaye, the state's chief judge, to have the state's criminal courts include a treatment component for alcohol and other substance abuse.
In Auburn's drug courts, clients must sign a contract and successfully complete three phases before graduating from the program.
In the first phase, they come to court once a week, go to treatment appointments at either Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs or Recovery Counseling three times a week and self-help meetings two times a week and undergo a rigorous regimen of substance abuse testing. They must demonstrate they have been sober for at least three months before they can graduate to the second phase, in which they are given more freedom as they show more responsibility. They come to court twice a month and must demonstrate they have been substance-abuse free for six months. During the third phase, participants come to court once a month and must show they have stayed clean and sober for several more months.
McKeon and his colleagues are acutely aware that relapse is part of the recovery process, so participants are given many chances to achieve sobriety and stay out of jail - as long as they are sincerely striving for that goal.
Before graduating from the program, clients must pay all the fines and restitution related to their crimes and have a full-time job or be in a school program.
In exchange, they receive a conditional discharge rather than jail time and an opportunity “to become law-abiding and productive citizens,” McKeon said.
Structure is maintained by requiring graduates to return every four months for the first year after they graduate from drug court, the judge said.
Colvin and McKeon are delighted at how a light comes on for defendants: that they can live their lives in a healthier - and sober - way. Sometimes estranged family members come back into their lives after they've become sober, they said.
“We see people grow not only in terms of personal change but with health,” McKeon said.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
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Rick wrote on Jun 1, 2007 9:14 AM: