By By Dave Jordan
The Escambia County Family Drug Court (FDC) enters its second year of operation at the end of this month. The first year of our court was a very rewarding year. I think the Team would agree we learned a lot.
Irene Johnson continues as our FDC Coordinator. Jennifer Emmons is our family counselor through Hope Place Family Resource Center. Substance abuse counseling is provided by Southwest Alabama Mental Health and Latasha Bradley represents that entity on our FDC Team.
We currently have two participants in Phase Two and one in Phase One. The Phase Two participants continue to work toward sobriety as well as attainment of their GEDs. We have partnered with Jeff Davis College for GED prep and testing. In Phase Two the participants must be employed or working faithfully to improve their employability.
Our participant in Phase One is working to maintain sobriety and to stabilize her life. As she enters the next phase, employability again becomes a big focus.
All participants attend parent counseling at Hope Place. All must come to Court on a regular basis and appear before me and report on their progress. If progress is not satisfactory sanctions may be imposed. I have used the jail on several occasions, always with positive results.
Random, meaningful drug testing is required of all participants. Our drug testing is performed by the Escambia County Community Corrections Program. The color code method is used meaning each participant is assigned a color. She must call each day and, if her color comes up, she must then appear at Community Corrections and be tested. If the participant fails to call in a 24 hour period that is considered a “dirty” test and there is a (jail) sanction. If her color comes up and she fails to appear and test that is a “dirty” test. And, of course, if the test is positive for any substance there is a resulting (jail) sanction.
FDC has seen one of our participants deliver a healthy, drug-free baby while in the program. That participant had given birth to substance-affected children before. Further, we have seen our participants remain clean and sober while on the program. We have seen several participants relapse and leave the program and some have simply quit. While we disagreed with their decision to leave FDC, those all made significant progress in their rehabilitation and, we hope, will be able to eventually regain permanent custody of their children.
We anticipate more participants joining FDC in the future. Drug court is not for everyone and is a rigorous, strict program. We’ve turned some folks down, and some have turned us down. While three participants may not seem like many, those three have 11 children between them. If we can return those 11 children to healthy, drug-free mothers who are employed and capable of providing for their care and upbringing without assistance, we will have achieved our mission.
FDC is a project of the Escambia County Children’s Policy, and we appreciate its continued support. Also, thanks to our Community Coalition, Escambia County Commission, ECATS and Frank McCloskey (counseling).
Dave Jordan is District Court Judge for Escambia County, Ala.