| 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 | Members Absent Steve Mottinger Ron Schneider John Thelen Greg Wallace Guests Staff |
The Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Committee met at the Youth Correctional Center, Mandan, ND. Prior to the meeting, Darrell Nitschke, Al Lick, Ron Voss and Bev Achele gave a presentation to the committee about the facility and the treatment programs that are available. The group toured the the facility following the meeting.
Justice Maring called the meeting to order.
The October 12, 2001 Minutes were approved. Rita Bry reported for the Grand Forks Drug Court. Shawn Peterson has replaced Jim Fish as the juvenile court officer. They presently have 10 participants and four other juveniles are being staffed. Two participants will graduate in March. Judge Kleven and Peter Welte will be speaking to the Grand Forks Police Department on January 22, 2001. Following this meeting, they hope to start a mentoring program with the younger officers.
Dr. Eric Lunn will be speaking to the Grand Forks team on the effects of alcohol on the adolescent brain.
The Grand Forks Herald wrote a story on the Grand Forks wrestling team. Two of the participants from drug court are members of this team and have been very successful. Detective Mike Iwan attended COPS training in Missoula Montana on community linkage. The True Colors Program will be started in February 2002.
Justice Maring has been contacted by Mike Schneider from the University of North Dakota. Mike is writing an article on the North Dakota Juvenile Drug Courts. Justice Maring suggested that there may be law students from UND who would be interested in mentoring participants in Juvenile Drug Court.
Mary Hall reported for the Fargo Juvenile Drug Court Program. They presently have 10 participants. A committee has been formed to explore the drug screening policy and explore other options. Mary Hall, Melody Peterson and Kris Haycraft are on this committee. The areas that they will work on are: trackers/training, liability issues, possible new drug supply vendor, and UA adulteration. They have purchased a digital alcohol detector and are planning to purchase two more. This will cut down on the cost of alcohol strips and problems they are experiencing with drug adulteration. Both teams stated they are experiencing problems with adulteration of drug tests. Justice Maring suggested the teams discuss this issue with the staff at San Diego conference. Both teams will be attending a team training in San Diego in January 2002.
Judge Erickson reported that the Fargo team has started community service projects. They have completed projects at the nursing home and a homeless shelter. The Ride- Along- Program is proving to be very successful despite the shortage of law enforcement officers in Fargo. Birch Burdick suggested that Judge Erickson meet with the Cass County Sheriff to ask for assistance. Justice Maring suggested each team get feedback from Lieutenant Tod Dahle and Detective Mike Iwan about the COPS training.
Dr. Kevin Thompson submitted a Statistical Summary of the Juvenile Drug Court from May 1, 2000 to December 31, 2001. He stated that 60% of the participants have been dual diagnosed. Dr. Thompson and Deb Davis attended a research workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some of the issues that were discussed at the workshop included: delaying dismissal of charges for 6 months after completion of program; having the original arresting officer present for graduation; gathering information from parents before, during, and after graduation. The issue of dismissing the charge 6 months following graduation will be discussed at the next advisory meeting.
Corey Schlinger, coordinator for the Adult Drug Court at South Central Judicial District, reported they presently have 19 participants and are receiving great support from the community. The participants' ages range from 18 to 50 and the participants have been mostly males. They are working on better involvement and support from the participants' families.
The old business was tabled for the next meeting.
The next Juvenile Drug Court Advisory meeting will be held in Fargo on April 5, 2002.
Meeting adjourned
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Marilyn Moe