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| Quick Notes Alcohol
& Other Drug Services: Family Counseling Services
offers DHR certified Alcohol and Drug Clinical Evaluators and
Treatment Providers. Individuals may receive services as mandated
through the court or on a walk in basis. For more information
please contact us at 706 549-7755 and ask about our DHR certified
providers. In The News:
Our Location
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Staff Cheran Bodry , LMSW Sheri Cross, NCAC I F.W. ("Nick") Ventimiglia, LCSW Rebecca Willingham, MSW |
The Athens- Clarke County DUI Drug Court is a 5-phase program for repeat DUI and other Alcohol/Drug related offenses. Individuals are mandated to comply with enhanced supervision, counseling, and treatment with the goal of sobriety. A team concept includes Judge Kent Lawrence, the Solicitor General, Local Law Enforcement, Bar Association including the Public Defender's Office, Probation Office, Court Program Coordinator, and licensed substance abuse treatment professionals. All members work together to support participants in addressing and combating the substance abuse issues that resulted in their placement in the criminal justice system.
What is Drug Court?
A drug court is a special court given the responsibility to handle cases involving drug-using offenders through comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives.
Drug court programs bring the full weight of all intervenors (judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, substance abuse treatment specialists, probation officers, law enforcement and correctional personnel, educational and vocational experts, community leaders and others) to bear, forcing the offender to deal with his or her substance abuse problem.
In addition, drug courts ensure consistency in judicial decision-making and enhance the coordination of agencies and resources, increasing the cost effectiveness of programs.
What about success?
American University’s Drug Court Clearinghouse reports that over 300,000 drug-using offenders have participated in drug court programs since their inception in 1989. In 1997, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) reported that 71% of all offenders entering drug courts since 1989 have either successfully completed their drug court program or are currently actively participating in their program.
In 2001, Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) concluded an updated study of its seminal 1998 review of drug court research and evaluations.It finds that drug courts continue to provide the most comprehensive and effective control of the drug-using offenders’ criminality and drug usage while under the court’s jurisdiction.
The revised study, based on a review of 37 evaluations, finds that their results are consistent with the 1998 analysis and the 2000 update based on 48 other evaluations finding that “drug courts provide closer, more comprehensive supervision and much more if required drug testing and monitoring during the program than other forms of community supervision ” and that “drug use and criminal behavior are substantially reduced while offenders are participating in drug court.” In fact, the average recidivism rate for those who complete the drug court program is between four and 29% as compared to 48% for those who do not participate in a drug court program.
Success rate touted for local DUI courts
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, October 27, 2008
Courts that combine traditional sentences for drunken driving with treatment for repeat offenders have succeeded and the state should invest more funding in the initiatives, supporters said Friday.A report released Friday said the rate of recidivism was 9 percent for graduates from three of Georgia's earliest DUI courts, based in Athens, Chatham County and Hall County, compared to 24 percent for offenders in different counties that didn't have the courts.
"Treatment with supervision works with hard-core drunken driving offenders," said Clarke County State Court Judge Kent Lawrence, who handles Athens' DUI court.
In the DUI court system, offenders are incarcerated for a while, but then enter a treatment program under court supervision. If the offender violates the terms of the treatment program, he or she can be jailed again, for progressively longer stays with each violation.