Clark County Judge Discusses County's Drug Treatment Court

Thursday, September 28th, 2023 -- 3:00 PM

Clark County has created a drug treatment court.

Clark County Judge Lyndsey Boon Brunette discussed why a drug treatment court for Clark County was pursued. She said, “So many of the cases that come into court are related to illegal drug or substance use from criminal cases to family and child support to children in need of protection or services."

"The drug treatment court provides an opportunity to actually help individuals that are addicted to substances by providing treatment and support, holding these individuals accountable in following through with expectations, and hopefully providing skills to allow these individuals to be more productive in society and supporting their family and community."

"Also, as is often the case, drug abuse is generational and the court will hopefully break the cycle. Our local stakeholders wholeheartedly saw the value in developing an Adult Treatment Court program as these models have proven effectiveness with persons who have chronic issues with substances. Our team chose to call our treatment court Recovery Court.”

She also explained the steps that have been taken to bring a treatment court to the County. “We started meetings amongst local stakeholders and justice partners in the fall of 2019 to gauge interest and buy-in for starting a treatment court."

"In 2020, we began having our formal meetings to apply for Treatment and Diversion (TAD) grant funding from the State. Receiving funding through a grant was crucial for us to even begin. The County Board approved our group to apply for TAD grants in the next cycle which was Fall 2021."

"After many meetings and much work, we submitted our grant proposal in September 2021 and found out in early December 2021 that we were approved for grant funding to begin the implementation phase of developing our treatment court."

"As a team of multidisciplinary stakeholders, we then set out to develop our program manual and make the necessary hires. Most of the requirements were in place and ready by July 2022. Our Recovery Court officially admitted its first participants on August 30, 2022, which means we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary in 2023."

"The entire Recovery Court team is grateful to celebrate the work that our participants and team members have been doing over the last year. As we move forward, we have received renewed TAD grant funds to continue operating our Recovery Court and provide ongoing training to our team."

"We currently have six participants working through Recovery Court and conduct our Recovery Court on a weekly basis, including staffing meetings ahead of the Recovery Court sessions.”

Judge Boon Brunette explained how the court works. “Our Recovery Court adheres to the Wisconsin Treatment Court Standards and is a multi-phased process. Participants work with our multidisciplinary team for treatment where our team is able to use a variety of graduated rewards and sanctions."

"The Recovery Court staffing team is comprised of myself, Judge Brunette, and then representatives from Community Services for treatment providers and administration of the program, the JusticePoint Recovery Court Coordinator, Law Enforcement, District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Peer Support Provider, Social Services, and the Department of Corrections."

"The planning committee generally consists of the same members with support from additional partners at JusticePoint, Corporation Counsel, and the Family Health Center of Marshfield."

"Both the Recovery Court staffing team and planning committee fall under the umbrella of the Clark County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) which provides high-level oversight to the Recovery Court with day-to-day operations falling to the Recovery Court Team."

"The multiphase model is designed with the hope of engaging participants in treatment long enough to successfully address the addiction and prevent repeating habits, whether use of substance or criminal behavior."

"As Participants proceed early in the phases, we must anticipate that our participants will experience reoccurrence of their use. However, participants who do not make progress or who engage in further criminal conduct are expelled from treatment court and held accountable for their actions."

"Recovery Court candidates are screened by staff and those selected will be admitted into the court. Candidates only enter the program after being convicted of a crime relating to drugs. At each phase, participants are provided resources such as case management, treatment (substance use and mental health), and life skills (healthy relationship, finances, employment, etc.)."

"A participant will typically take at least 18 month to get through all phases. If successful, our participants will graduate from Recovery Court but will continue on probation for additional support outside the court system. The whole intent of a treatment court is to support and enable participants to be successful after they graduate from the court program.”

Finally, Jude Brunette explained advantages of this court for habitual drug offenders over the regular court system. “The primary purpose of the treatment court model is to provide treatment and practical, comprehensive support for drug offenders with a diagnosed substance use disorder."

"Traditionally, high risk, high needs drug offenders may be sent to jail or prison with limited treatment and education of life skills to be productive for themselves, their family, and the community upon release. Further, the treatment celebrates focused success rather than primarily focusing on failure."

"Participants will make mistakes while in the program. The goal is to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among substance abusing offenders and increase long-term ability in the community and in managing addictions."

"The adult treatment court model includes consistent and intensive court supervised treatment, mandatory drug testing, and community supervision, in addition to the use of appropriate sanctions, incentives, and services."

"The participants work initially on stabilization in phases 1 and 2, then move onto rehabilitation in phase 2 and then phases 3 and 4, before finishing in phase 5 with a focus on continuing care."

"If we are successful, drug court programs help participants recover from addiction and avoid future criminal activity while also reducing the use of resources and costs of repeatedly processing non‐violent offenders through the courts, jails, and prisons."

"In closing, I want to personally thank all that have lent their time and energy to establishing our Recovery Court over the last several years. Most of all, we want to also acknowledge the hard work our participants have put into their sobriety journeys and in facing a lot of really hard personal issues."

"It is an amazing program to be a part of. We are really appreciative of our County and the stakeholders along the way seeing the need and supporting this for their residents and communities."

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.