ONLY ONLINE: Whitley School System pledges funds to keep county’s Juvenile Drug Court Program going

The Whitley County Board of Education presented District Judge Cathy Prewitt with a certificate of appreciation Thursday night for her work with Whitley County’s Juvenile Drug Court, but the board also gave Prewitt something that she wanted far more than a plaque, funding to help keep the program going past the end of the year.

Budget cuts by the Administrative Office of the Courts earlier this year called for the elimination of juvenile drugs courts as a cost saving measure.

"We have the most successful juvenile drug court in the state. I have received commendations for that, but it is not me. There are people that are dedicated," Prewitt said.

"I think the best way to explain what it means to these kids is that I have had several come to me and my case worker, and asked if they could hold bake sales or wash cars to keep this going. One little girl cried, and said, ‘I don’t know where I would be. I’m so afraid I would be dead without you.’"

The Whitley County Board of Education voted unanimously during their monthly meeting Thursday, to create the positions of ELL Coordinator and a drug court liason/drug counselor that will keep the program operating.

Prewitt said that the board’s help will enable the program to keep going.

She said the juveniles in the program will see little to no difference, but that it will now be renamed the Reclaiming Futures Treatment Program.

Superintendent Scott Paul, who is a former high school principal, noted that he has seen first hand what the program was able to achieve and is glad the school system can help keep it running.

Darla Crawford, a drug counselor in the school district, said that Operation UNITE has hired one person, who was being paid through her grant, leaving an open salary that will cover the new coordinator position.

Crawford said that grant funding in her program would also cover the benefits for the coordinator.

The new coordinator is the day to day person, who does the paperwork, and makes sure that Prewitt knows when something goes wrong.

Prewitt receives no pay for juvenile drug court work, which she does voluntarily on top of other duties.

The drug testing kits, which are used by the program, will be paid for through a grant that the school system already receives.
Prewitt added she has found drug-testing kits that were significantly cheaper than what the state had been paying for similar tests.

Crawford said that alcohol and some occasional steroid testing is being done on juveniles involved in the program.
The alcohol test now being used will detect alcohol usage as far back as 80 hours, Prewitt noted.

How drug court works

Prewitt said that the old fashioned way of doing juvenile justice used to be slapping the kids on the hand and telling them not to do it any more.

Typically, judges would be seeing the offenders again in a couple of months.

Now, when children enter the juvenile drug court program, an initial assessment is done to determine if they have problems with drugs, mental health issues, or other problems.

Prewitt said the emphasis is now on identifying the problem and attempting to find solutions to that.

If a child is caught using drugs or showing up to school intoxicated for the first time, they are given a chance to enter a diversion program where they are drug tested once a week.

As long as they are drug free, they don’t have to enter the juvenile drug court program, Crawford said.

"We don’t have any kids that went from diversion to juvenile drug court," Crawford added.

She said that some students will voluntarily stay in the drug court program for longer than one year as a safety blanket to help keep them clean.

The youngest child that has entered juvenile drug court is 12 years old. The average age is 15 years old. There are about the same number of boys in the program as girls.

Prewitt noted that when dealing with juveniles, it is important to not only tell them not to use drugs like marijuana, but also to explain the reasons why they shouldn’t use drugs.

Prewitt said that there is one particularly notable success story about a student, who completed juvenile drug court, and is now playing football at Georgetown.

During an Operation UNITE recruitment luncheon last Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers called drug court, "one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen."

He noted those diverted to drug court are often people that have done little else to violate the law other than their drug offenses.

"They force them through a treatment program with direction and discipline to head back from the point of death to being full of life again," Rogers said. "It is tough love and it works."