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Sunday, July 06, 2008
Ind. Courts - Warrick County Drunk Driving and Drug Court and the Youth Substance Abuse Program
Lydia McCoy of the Evansville Courier & Press reports today:
In the 33 years that Warrick County Judge Keith Meier has worked in the criminal justice system, he's seen the correlation between crime and drugs and alcohol.In 2005, he founded the Warrick County Drunk Driving and Drug Court, which works to rehabilitate people convicted of crimes who have drug and alcohol addictions. Now he's partnering with Judge David Kelley, county Prosecutor Todd Corne and court services to reach out to juvenile offenders.
The new Youth Substance Abuse Program is intended as a corrective, rehabilitative program for juvenile offenders and will include parents and their responsibilities in the curriculum.
"We don't really have any similar program in the judicial system here in Warrick County," Meier said. "Judge Kelley, who does virtually all of the juvenile delinquencies (cases), has wanted to be able to refer the juveniles that are using drugs or alcohol to something, to get some intervention."
Meier said it's a natural progression from the drug court.
"Had these people that are in the drug court gotten the intervention they needed when they were juveniles, they probably wouldn't have ended up in a drug court program," he said. "When I set up the drug court, I ultimately wanted to get into the juvenile area."
The program could be extended into a drug court program, but that hinges in part on staffing and funding, Meier said.
"It's a step in the right direction," he said. "We're certainly not going to be a full service for the juveniles, but maybe as we progress we can do that."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 6, 2008 09:15 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts