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Celebrating sobriety: Saline County Drug Court participants hold annual picnic |
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Thursday, 25 September 2008 |
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The event may have been inside but it had an outdoor flavor when Saline County Drug Court held its second annual picnic Tuesday at the Saline County Voting Center in Downtown Benton.  Drug Court participants Chris Glidewell and Tammy Williams, both of Benton, show their support after Williams won a candle at Saline County Drug Court’s second annual picnic on Tuesday at the Saline County Voting Center. (Courier photo by Melissa Walls)
Participants and their families were treated to traditional picnic fare such as hamburgers, hot dogs and soft drinks. The picnic helps bring together program members, their families and staff in a relaxed atmosphere so they can socialize.
Circuit Court Judge Gary Arnold, who presides over the drug court, said organizers “decided to reward participants with a positive family atmosphere celebration when everyone in the program remained clean and sober for three months. It took a year before everyone had three consecutive months of sobriety.”
A poster contest was judged prior to the picnic. Each program participant made a poster symbolizing his or her recovery process.
Kim Toki of Shannon Hills won, Chris Glidewell of Benton placed second and Penny and Philllip Wilson of Lonsdale were third. The winners received Walmart gift certificates.
Door prizes were awarded to participants and their families during the picnic.
The drug court program has been in operation for only five years, but already it has made a positive impact in the community and the lives of people who go through the program, said Judy Pridgen, program coordinator.
Though relatively new to Saline County, the program was conceived in 1989 in Miami, Fla., as a treatment-based drug court. The concept was based on a federal mandate to reduce the inmate population or lose federal funding. After research, a Florida judge determined that a large majority of inmates were incarcerated on drug charges and were consistently in and out of the courts system. After founders decided that drug treatment programs needed to be coupled with the criminal justice system, the program was born.
Participants are in the program to overcome addictions to legal and illegal drugs, such as pain medications, cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol, marijuana and other harmful substances.
The participants enter the program by pleading guilty to their respective drug-related felony charges. Instead of going to jail, they are instructed to work through the program. Upon completion, their charges are dropped.
Through the five years of operation in Saline County, the drug court has had an 80 percent success rate, Pridgen said.
The program also is an economic benefit, Pridgen said, noting that it costs the county about $50 per day to house an inmate in jail compared to $5 a day in the drug court program.
The program has four phases and a pre-graduation class before a participant can be released. Participants average about two years in the program, but if they don’t receive any sanctions, it may take only 18 months, Arnold said.
Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady said his office “is happy with the program. It makes a big difference in people’s lives. I am glad we had the picnic and celebrate the fact that the program is helping folks.”
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