Itasca County Wellness Court

1. Itasca County Wellness Court Where Treatment and Justice Meet

2. Goals of Drug/Wellness Courts • Enhancing Public Safety • Ensuring Offender and System Accountability • Reducing Costs to Society • Improving the Quality of Life for Addicted Offenders, their Families and Community through recovery

3. What is a Wellness Court? • Specialized court for chemically addicted offenders • Judicially led team approach • Comprehensive and intensive supervision • Judge, probation, law enforcement, treatment • Frequent chemical testing • Treatment services • Immediate sanctions and incentives

4. How is Drug Court Different from Traditional Court? • Result-oriented vs. process oriented • Coordinated approach • Intensive supervision by court, probation, treatment, and law enforcement • Long-term treatment • High level of accountability • Personal interaction with Judge

5. Itasca County Wellness Court Eligibility Offense eligibility includes: • Any felony possession of controlled substance crime in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th degree, or gross misdemeanor or felony level DWI crime involving an adult defendant • Resident of Itasca County or resides within a 20 mile radius of Grand Rapids • Non-violent criminal history • Chemical assessment diagnosis of chemically dependent • Voluntarily agrees to participate in Wellness Court

6. Program Phases • Program is a minimum of 18 months

7. Other Program Requirements • Have employment, be actively looking for employment, be attending school, or be in process of obtaining GED • Disassociation with people who use or possess drugs and/or alcohol • Random drug testing (2-3 times per week initially, decreases as participants progress through the program) • $400 fee to participate

8. At a Glance… • 36 active participants • 26 felony drug • 6 gross misdemeanor DWI • 3 felony DWI • 1 gross misdemeanor drug • Supervision is provided by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (25-30 felony level offenders), and the Itasca County Probation Department (up to 10 gross misdemeanor DWI offenders)

9. Local Success Since the inception of the program… Of the 75 graduates, 21 (28%) have re-offended with gross misdemeanor or felony level offenses since program inception in 2007. National studies estimate recidivism rates for drug/DWI court graduates is approximately 28%. Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that within 3 years of release from prison, 77% of drug offenders re-offended.

10. The Team • Judge –Honorable Korey Wahwassuck • Tribal Court Judge – Honorable Megan Treuer • County Attorney – Jack Muhar • Probation – Chad Christofferson & Michelle Anderson • Coordinator – Abby Kuschel • Law Enforcement – Deputy John Benton, Officers Mikki Norris and Jeremy Nelson • Treatment Providers –Rapids Counseling; Northland Recovery; Hope House; and Lakeplace Ali Meyer – Northhomes, Inc.

11. The Verdict Is In… Drug courts work better than jail or prison, better than probation and treatment alone, significantly reduce drug use and crime, and are more cost effective than any other proven criminal justice strategy.

12. FACTS • Nationwide, 75% of Drug Court graduates remain arrest-free at least two years after leaving the program. • For every $1.00 invested in Drug Court, taxpayers save as much as $3.36 in avoided criminal justice costs alone nationwide. • Drug Courts produce costs savings ranging from $4,000 to $12,000 per client. These cost savings reflect reduced prison costs, reduced revolving-door arrests and trials, and reduced victimization. • For methamphetamine addicted people, Drug Courts increase treatment program graduation rates by nearly 80%. • Drug Court reduce methamphetamine use by more than 50% compared to outpatient treatment alone. Unless substance abusing/addicted offenders are regularly supervised by a Judge and held accountable, 70% drop out of treatment prematurely. Drug Courts are six times more likely to keep offenders in treatment long enough for them to get better.

13. Local Program DemographicsAt intake, of the 114 clients enrolled between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2017 • 48% were female and 52% were male • All clients identified as either white (84%), American Indian/Alaskan Native (13%), Hispanic (2%), and Pacific Islander (1%) • Clients were on average 33 years old. • 7% of clients were military veterans • 86% of client had either a GED or high school diploma (51% had diploma/GED, and 35% had some college or advanced degree) • 21% were employed • 49% had stable housing • 32% had a valid driver’s license

14. Local Demographics (continued) • The most common substances used in the previous year at intake were alcohol (83%) and methamphetamine (70%). In addition, 60% of participants had used prescription drugs, and 67% used marijuana. • Based on the LS-CMI, 83% of clients had a high or very high risk need at intake. Only 16% had a moderate risk need at intake.

15. Key Findings • The percentage of participants with stable housing increased from 40% at intake to 71% at discharge (91% among graduates and 54% among terminated participants). • 67% of clients had a valid drivers license at discharge, up from 32% at intake (85% among graduates and 51% among terminated participants). • 69% of clients had a full-time or part-time job compared to 19% at intake (85% among graduates and 56% among terminated participants).

16. Key Findings (continued)… • Graduates had on average, 724 days of sobriety. • At discharge, 47% of discharged participants (graduates) had LS-CMI risk scores in the low range.

17. Return on Investment Results2007-2017

18. Economic Benefits of the Itasca County Wellness Court • Avoided incarceration costs from reduced original sentence $999,687 • Avoided incarceration costs from reduced recidivism $870,090 • Additional personal income from increased employment $698,904 • Additional tax revenues from increased income $38,337 • TOTAL BENEFITS $2,607,018

19. Aiming to Solve the Problems of the People Who Come Before the Courts is - Work Worth Doing!