NORWICH – Chenango County has began implementation of a Family Treatment Court aimed at restoring families torn apart by substance addiction through strict rehabilitation of the parents.
“In criminal treatment court, if you fail you just have to go jail or prison, but eventually it’s over with. In Family Treatment Court, the stakes are much higher because if you fail, you lose your children and you don’t get over that,” said Chenango County Family Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan.
The judge announced the start of the court on May 1, which is National Law Day and May is National Treatment Court Month.
Family Court Clerk Carole Dunham explained that many of those eligible for the treatment already had their parental rights called into question by the Department of Social Services, which in some cases files a petition with the court seeking to remove the children from the home and to terminate or severely limit the parent’s rights.
The judge explained that where the regular legal system would leave many without any options to retain custody, Family Treatment Court would offer another chance to those willing to adhere to its strict requirements.
Many of those requirements are determined on a case-by-case basis, explained Treatment Court Coordinator James Everard.
“For instance if a candidate shows they have an issue with anger management, then they’ll have to attend anger management treatment in addition to all the other obligations,” he said.
Everard explained that some of those general obligations included random drug tests, required weekly court appearance, mandated attendance at treatment programs outside of family court and more.
“If someone is at a point in their life where they’re ready to tackle their substance abuse problems and want to get their life back together, then this is a huge opportunity for them,” said Everard.
The treatment program will have different phases of accomplishment where those who follow the court’s direction, while also displaying a level of personal motivation, move forward toward the eventual goal of having their parental rights restored.
Those who relapse or become negligent in their commitments remain stagnant in the process; they may also be move back to an earlier phase or be removed from the program altogether, depending on the severity and frequency of the offense.
Those who fail the program risk having their children being permanently placed in foster care.
The program has three phases and an eventual path to graduation. Parental rights may be partially restored or visitations granted before the program is completed, based on how well the parent performs in treatment.
Everard, who is in charge of the candidate screening process, said that personal motivation will be a key factor in qualifying an applicant.
“We’re fortunate in having an excellent system in place that’s ready to help an individual, but the system can’t help anyone who doesn’t acknowledge their problem or doesn’t wish to participate in treatment,” said Everard.
The Family Treatment Court takes between 12 and 18 months to complete and is overseen by the Family Treatment Court Team. The team is comprised of several law enforcement, judicial and social agencies, including Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Catholic Charities, Morrisville College, Dispute Resolution, Mental Health, DSS, Child Protective Services, Office of Employment and Training and the State Police. The group also has an appointed law guardian, public defender, family and county court clerks and a resource coordinator.
“Basically you’ve got everyone already in the family court process involved, but instead of them sitting in their separate offices, all trying to coordinate with each other, you’ve got them all sitting in the same room listening to one candidate at a time, getting the same story each time. It’ll help to tighten the system up,” explained Everard.
Sullivan said Chenango was one of the last counties to adopt the program in the Sixth Judicial District, which covers a 10-county area. Sullivan said a backlog in family court cases caused a slow down in bringing the program to Chenango. The judge was so burdened with family court cases that in 2007, Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd was appointed to handle the county’s criminal cases for 2008 and 2009 so Sullivan could focus on processing the accumulating family workload.
He said that “at least 50 percent” of the family court cases coming before him involve substance abuse and could benefit from the treatment court.
“Once they start to address their issues and put the drugs down, their lives start to become more manageable. Things they had long ignored come to life and the family unit improves dramatically,” said Sullivan.
The judge also said the program is more cost efficient because it helps to reduce the number of children taken from their parents and avoids long-term foster care placement.