LOVELOCK - Humboldt County commissioners completed the paperwork necessary to accept a nearly $1 million federal grant on behalf of the three counties, Lander, Humboldt, and Pershing, which receive drug court services through the Sixth Judicial District.
The grant is from the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The enhancement grant is meant to add drug court services over and above what the Sixth Judicial District is able to provide with current funding sources. The grant will provide $324,930 each year for three years, for a total of $974,790.
Along with enhanced services for drug court clients, the grant will pay for training in Washington for the judge, a project director, evaluator, treatment provider and attorneys.
Although all three counties have had drug courts for at least eight years, for much of that time Humboldt, Pershing, and Lander counties have not had the counseling and treatment services available locally for drug court clients in their counties.
To meet that need, Humboldt County commissioners also authorized a contract between Sixth Judicial Drug Court in Lander,
Humboldt and Pershing counties and the New Frontier Treatment Center, based in Fallon, for adult drug court treatment services.
Services offered by the New Frontier Treatment Center include outpatient drug and alcohol counseling to be available in Battle Mountain, Winnemucca, and Lovelock and in-patient 28-day residential drug treatment services at New Frontier's Fallon facility.
Treatment and counseling for those in the drug court diversionary sentencing program continue for the entire 18 months of required drug court participation. The treatment and counseling are more intensive at the beginning, and lessen as the program continues, provided the drug court client is doing well.
The contract with New Frontier Treatment Center outlines the treatment process for clients of drug court. That process begins with an orientation and clinical assessment, usually lasting about 30 days, followed by Phase 1 for at least 12 weeks, during which drug court clients are required to attend drug court every week and meet with their counselor and case manager weekly.
The drug court program has a component of education and self-introspection represented by reading and journaling assignments that those in drug court are required to complete. They also must write reports on topics they research.
They submit to random drug tests at least three times a week, and are required to attend at least one individual and two group counseling sessions a week, and attend at least three Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings a week.
Phase 2, also a minimum of 12 weeks, takes the drug court appearances to twice a month, and meetings with the counselor and case manager to once a week. The education component continues with reading, journaling and reports. Minimum twice-weekly drug testing and weekly outpatient counseling sessions continue; attendance at AA and NA meetings can go down to twice a week.
Phase 3 continues twice-monthly appearances at drug court; both counseling and meeting with a case manager can drop to monthly if things are going well. Reading, journaling and report-writing continue, as well as drug testing, and group or individual counseling, AA or NA meetings.
The focus of Phase 3 is maintaining goals, improving daily living skills and establishing community involvement.
Phase 4, a minimum of eight weeks, requires an appearance in drug court just once a month, meeting with both the counselor and case manager monthly, drug testing at least twice a month, and two group or individual counseling sessions a month.
Drug court clients are required to participate in an additional six months of after-care program focusing on successfully transitioning from the drug court structure to the normal lifestyle that they'll experience following graduation.
Drug court participants are held strictly to the myriad of requirements; failure on any point, even being late to drug court or drug testing, often results in jail time or further sanctions.
Those who successfully complete all of the requirements through all of the stages over 18 months leave court with no felony conviction on their record. Drug court participants pay to be part of the program.
District Court Judge Michael Montero explained that a judge determines which clients might need admission to the 28-day in-patient drug treatment program at New Frontier's Fallon center.
- See GRANT, Page 17 -
He said in-facility treatment is ordered when someone comes into drug court with an addiction that they're unable to overcome with just outpatient services. He explained, "They need detox and treatment inside the facility."
Grant program director Layne Wilhelm added, "Usually, they've hit bottom; they may actually be physically or emotionally in such a state that they can't stay in their current environment."
Wilhelm, who has over 20 years experience in the field, was hired in the temporary position as grant program director - a position paid for under the grant.
Montero noted that drug court clients pay for in-patient treatment themselves if they are able; if they can't pay, the grant can offer assistance.
Montero said that the grant will require and pay to do follow-up with former drug court clients, to answer questions about the long-term success rate of the drug court program.
He said they haven't done the type of official follow-up needed to determine long-term success.
He noted he sees former clients who are doing very well, adding that those running drug court get quite close to some of the people working through the program over the 18 months it takes to successfully complete drug court.
"We believe we have good results, but we don't have actual hard statistics," said Montero.
The enhanced drug court services to be paid for with the SAMSHA grant are accessible by Lander and Pershing counties, but specific requests for funding have to come through Humboldt County's drug court coordinator because money spent from the grant has to be carefully tracked and documented to meet federal requirements.
Humboldt, Lander, and Pershing counties have had drug courts for about nine years, the judge said, adding that some legislators are working toward making drug court programs mandatory in counties that don't currently have them.
Drug court was originally funded in part by the state, although in recent years the amount has decreased (in the case of Humboldt County) or has been discontinued (for Lander and Pershing counties).
Montero said he and Sixth Judicial District personnel will continue to look for grant funding to assist the counties in providing drug court diversionary sentencing services.
Although drug court's intensive monitoring and counseling is expensive, Montero said it is saving all three counties money.
"It's much less expensive than sending these people to prison," he said.
Montero added that there appears to be some opportunity to extend the SAMSHA grant a year or two past the original three years, noting that after that it will be necessary to look for other funding sources.
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