Radisson Inn, Fargo, North Dakota
April 5, 2002
| Members Present Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, Chair Judge Deb Kleven Judge Ralph Erickson Mary Hall Dr. Kevin Thompson Birch Burdick Deb Davis Melody Peterson Rita Bry Kris Haycraft Peter Welte Shawn Peterson Nicole Leitner Ron Schneider Greg Wallace Tim Bittner Tod Dahle | Members Absent Steve Mottinger John Thelen Guests |
Staff
Marilyn Moe
The Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Committee met at the Radisson Plaza in Fargo on April 5, 2002. Tammy Becker, grant administrator for the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant, was a guest along with Gene Johnson, of Fargo.
The meeting was called to order by Justice Maring. The minutes of January 18, 2002, were approved.
Peter Welte reported for the Grand Forks team. Their drug court finished their 100th week. They have 10 participants in the program. On March 25th the True Colors Program was presented to the parents and participants. Judge Kleven and Mike Iwan presented the drug court program to the Grand Forks Police Department. Tracking has been increased to meet the participant's needs. A law student from UND will be working with the drug court program through the States Attorney's Office. The role for this position has not yet been defined.
Judge Erickson reported for the Fargo team. He spoke of the training both teams received in San Diego and of how both teams believe they are at the point where their courts need to be institutionalized . A Policy and Procedures Manual should be created along with a transition plan for any position that might need to be filled in the future. Fargo held a one-day retreat and discussed budget issues, screening of participants, chain of command, and role and responsibilities. The team came to an agreement on drug testing protocol. The trackers and team members will be trained next week. Birch Burdick contacted Chief Magnus in regard to the law enforcement involvement. Chief Magnus does not have the time or staff (at this time) because of the loss of law enforcement officers due to the step up in home security. Judge Erickson stated a group community service project has been very beneficial to the participants and team. They are doing one week a month for a fun project and 3 weeks out of the month for traditional community service. There are 10 participants in the program at this time.
The Ride Along Program was discussed and the overtime for law enforcement. Justice Maring stated that there could possibly be funds for overtime. Judge Erickson feels that the overtime would be very beneficial because the law enforcement officers would have many resources and talents to share. Both teams will visit with the local liaison and report to Justice Maring.
The board discussed the number of juveniles participating in the program. Judge Kleven stated that Grand Forks relies on referrals coming from their probation officers. She also stated that it's easier to handle 10 in the program at one time and that it is not so time consuming for the team. Fargo is averaging 12 participants. Judge Erickson also stated the juveniles that they are taking are deeper-end kids and that they are more time consuming. Both teams agreed they have learned from experience that they need to screen their juveniles better. They need to look at the participant's mental health problems and whether or not the parents will participate in the program.
Justice Maring distributed a brochure on mental health statistics. North Dakota highschool students are still #1 in the nation for binge drinking. The board discussed the shortage of addiction counselors and psychiatrists in North Dakota. Judge Kleven suggested that we take a pro-active approach for the Human Services. There is a time study out for the impact on addiction counselors. Judge Erickson suggested that our state provide some type of tuition waiver for people wanting to go into this line of work. Justice Maring will get in touch with Karen Larson about how the team members can help approach the legislature.
The timing of consideration of dismissal was discussed. After discussion it was agreed to change the wording in the manual to read: Six months following a successful graduation, the current offense will be considered for dismissal. The graduates will be tracked for these six months by the juvenile court officers.
Lieutenant Tod Dahle, Fargo Police Department, attended COPS training for drug courts in Missoula, Montana. He reported that our courts are very similar. Three drug court participants spoke at the training. They are receiving their funding from the Tobacco settlement money. They have their participants pay for their dirty UA's. The drug court participants' names are entered into the police computer system. If the participant is arrested for any driving offense or a curfew violation, the drug court personnel are notified. Tod would like to explain the program to the police officers in Fargo. He feels there would be more support if they understood the program.
Greg Wallace presented the group with a chain of command chart. Marilyn Moe's job duties were also distributed to the members.
Justice Maring distributed the grants and budgets for each district. The teams also received their updated budget summaries. Fargo is putting together a budget for their court. Justice Maring will be presenting a budget for the drug court program to the 2003 legislature on ways to trim our budgets were discussed.
A subcommittee was formed for a Policy & Procedures Manual. Members of this committee are: Melody Peterson, Judge Deb Kleven, Peter Welte, Steve Mottinger, Nicole Leitner, Ron Schneider, Rita Bry, and Mike Iwan. Judge Deb Kleven will chair the committee and it will be staffed by Marilyn Moe.
A subcommittee was formed for the Juvenile Drug Court strategic planning. This team consists of: Dr. Kevin Thompson, Deb Davis, Mary Hall, Judge Ralph Erickson, Birch Burdick, John Thelen, Shawn Peterson, Kristi Lentz, Kris Haycraft, Tod Dahle, Deb Carlson and staffed by Marilyn Moe. Judge Ralph Erickson will chair the committee. Greg Wallace and Justice Maring will find a facilitator. These committees will have a proposal ready by the September meeting.
Deb Davis reported the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Summit will be held in September at Bismarck. The Seven Challenges Program will be presented on Thursday by Dr. Robert Schwebel, Tuscon, Arizona.
The board discussed lines of communication, and each team is working on a solution to that problem. This would reduce the staffing time and meeting time for both teams. Melody stated that she is concerned with the confidentiality issues in regard to treatment with computer usage. The Association of Counties is meeting with Grand Forks to discuss this issue.
May is National Drug Court Month. Rita Bry, Kris Haycraft and Marilyn Moe will go through the materials received from Drug Court Professionals. It was suggested that a picnic with the teams and drug court participants might be a good event.
The Juvenile Drug Court video will be done very soon.
The board discussed the evaluations that the participants and parents are filling out after graduation. Justice Maring suggested that someone be responsible for determining if there are problems that need to be addressed.
The next meeting will be scheduled at the time of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Summit in Bismarck.
Meeting adjourned.
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Marilyn Moe