Travis County Commissioners Court
July 28, 2009,
Item 26
Back returning for this afternoon.
let's start with 26.
receive update regarding status of Travis County dwi court.
we have several people here on this item.
judge, ms.
hail, court administrator, a new person.
who not only won't give her name, but won't even look at us.
>> [laughter] you are --
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> [inaudible - no mic]
>> welcome.
>> thank you.
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic]
>> I'm going to invite the county attorney's office as well.
the attorneys that working with the court to come up and sit with us.
we have two extra chairs here, they are part of this staffing team as well.
not the entire staffing team is presents with us.
but I'm going to introduce everyone.
if anyone has any specific questions for -- for individuals then we can go through those as well.
but first of all, my name is elizabeth earle, judge of county court at law number 7, currently the dwi court judge.
the dwi court in Travis County has been open now a little over a year.
we wanted to give you a status update of kind of where we are at in handling these cases.
we -- interestingly enough, this week as well as the week before last, we have been in Austin, the dwi court training, the week before last was a big conference, state-wide conference.
this week is the dwi college training and both of those weeks Travis County dwi court our Wednesday night docket.
so you all are officially invited tomorrow Wednesday at 4:00.
we will have an open staffing where they get to see how we handle our staffing and there's about 50 people from around the state, judges, court personnel, who want to implement courts like this in their jurisdiction.
they come to Travis County to see how we're doing and it's -- it was a -- it was a great group two week ago, I'm looking forward to another group tomorrow night.
at 4:00.
it will go until about 6:00.
they have to leave a little early, we will probably be there until after that time.
but you are more than women to attend with them.
we have bradley and christie who are both our dwi defense attorneys that help with handling some of the -- of the issues as an occupational -- things that have to deal with them, they have a question about the court proceeding, if someone considered -- is considered able to -- just in case there's any kind of questions.
vicki ashley is in the county attorney's office.
her and nancy hamil right over there actually specifically assigned to dwi court.
she's there every Wednesday to handle this docket.
it's not just Wednesday.
dwi court is something that is every day.
i can't tell you how much we -- my time is used in handling this issue.
i mean, specifically hosting and being a facilitator at two conferences regarding the dwi court.
this is something that the legislature -- legislative community has found very important.
and the governor's office has -- has promised us hopefully a grant.
we haven't found out yet.
we are hoping for it still.
so for next year.
then, of course, dr.
nagey is here, she'll talk about some of the treatment ideas and of course the person that keeps me in line every single day, deborah hale.
then we have some court participants that I would like them to briefly tell you about the court.
i'm going to go through the slides pretty quickly.
if you have any specific questions, I would ask you to ask me, I will help you to stop.
i felt like it was more important for you to hear from them and not just the numbers.
the numbers you can figure it out.
so if we can go to the first slide.
the -- as you can tell, this goes without saying dwi cases have increased in Travis County.
we have gone up 118% since you the 8, the end -- since '98.
>> how much of a greater rise are we seeing compared to population growth over the rising population?
>> I can tell you, I don't have specific numbers, I can find out for sure the exact answer for you, however, in our population it has grown in the past 10 years.
but I don't know if it's grown 118%.
>> I am already certain it hasn't.
>> so I know that the numbers have increased, that is probably a lot of part from a.p.d.
making more arrests.
there are -- you know, trying more cases.
but most of all, maybe more bars being open.
i don't know are, there could be so many different things could be the reasons why there's more people being arrested for dwi.
but to see that substantial number be increased and in Travis County, in just a 10 year span is pretty extra ordinary.
in other jurisdictions I can say they have seen an increase as well.
not maybe to that point, we are definitely on the higher end of that.
that has a lot to do with having the university of Texas here, having sixth street here.
all of the different things that would create more of a drinking town.
new braunfels, they have a different type of -- they are going to open a dwi court.
they have a different type of clientele that would be in their court.
williamson county, judge tim wright who was a judge with me in baby judge school, he's doing the dwi court in Williamson county, they have two nights of dwi court.
and they are -- they are just doing great things there.
i have learned a lot from him.
because they were open before we were.
so I went to visit his courted and did some of the same things that new braunfels is doing with us.
judge wright can talk your ear off about benefits of these type of programs.
he's also was arrested retiring this past year and decided he wanted to run for reelection, he said it's because he wants to continue with this program.
that's how committed he is to making sure it works and making sure it works right.
other cases filed, these kind of goes through the numbers specifically.
7600 in '08.
multiple pending,
>> [indiscernible], two or more dwi's.
we have a lot of cases in Travis County.
it's not because that the county attorney's office is going slow in prosecution.
i will have a case in my court someone is charged with driving while intoxicated, in two months you have another one.
on the pretrial or jury docket.
that person will pick up another one while the first case is pending.
there's a number of cases where there's maybe three pending.
before you get a picture, there will be three pending first dwi's.
which will -- we will still have jurisdiction over them.
and those have a -- have a -- we have at least over 500 that we have accounted for.
with two or more dwi's.
that is concerning.
that is someone in my book who is asking for help.
you know, at least someone who is -- who hasn't -- who has an addiction that they can't control or somebody who when you are out on a bond on a case for dwi, told not to drink, told you're going to be caught if you do, you go out and commit another one, of course they are not -- I'm not saying they are guilty, I'm saying the concern is that they are still drinking.
they may not be guilty of a dwi but consuming alcohol when you are out on bond for another case.
so that's -- those are the target population that we're looking at.
i'll talk up target populations shortly.
the implementation background, some of this is stuff that you already know.
back when may 2007 the legislature passed house bill 530 requiring that we have these type of courts if we have a population over 200,000.
the -- however, they did not provide funding for the courts.
we were lucky this past year to receive a governor's grant.
unfortunately, we did not get the grant for a while.
it was a daily communication between the three of us seems like.
have we heard anything yes or no.
and we did get it.
so that was a positive thing.
i'm keeping my fingers crossed we're going to get it again.
>> I have a -- how much was it?
>> I'm sorry.
>> how much was it?
>> over 200.
>> over 200,000.
and that's desperately needed and used.
>> what does it cost to implement the court.
>> that's another thing.
they are using no -- they are using somebody from the county attorney's office.
probation, we have probation person, the salary I think is used for the grant money.
>> probation officer and
>> [indiscernible]
>> [inaudible - no mic] we applied as a pilot, once we have -- at full capacity
>> [indiscernible] so it pays for that fund.
>> we are actually over that capacity.
we're having to pay for some of it through other ways.
just because we had so many people who already applied.
there's a waiting list now that you can get into the court.
the concern about the money, we were using stretching the resource, stretching things and actually before we got the grant, dr.
nagey gave us a probation officer who unfortunately can't be here because she is participating in the dwi court training at the omni at the moment.
so I want to thank you for that.
because she stepped up, everybody, david escamilla's office did as well.
the funds were used mostly for treatment.
treatment is very expense I exp.
but the treatment that's necessary for this type of program.
we're going to talk specifically about treatment in just one moment.
i will tell you exactly what that money is being used for.
the committee -- we started the court steering committee in sent.
actually, I was involved after meetings we all sat around and decided who was passionate about different issues.
and so obviously the lucky person that got the role of doing the dwi court implementation and I think it had something to do with some other courts before relative to the community court, et cetera.
so we started with the basics like what do we need as a committee.
a lot of work that I did was talking to judge wright as well as the national association of drug court professionals.
they provided a bunch of information about what is needed for these type of courts.
so it's like a drug court model.
judge bennett has been one of my heros for a very long time.
so he gave me a lot of input about how the courts should work.
it's different because it's post adjudication.
unlike drug court where it's preadjudication.
this court, they plea into the court.
pleas into the court are found, cleanup contests, placed on probation.
in the case it's transferred to the dwi court.
so we monitor it from there.
but it's after adjudication of the case.
we decided the committee members should include, this is from a bunch of different people, judges, court administration, probation, county clerk, which has been very helpful and that's not -- not special or any extra funds.
they have someone come stay late.
sometimes very late, sometimes we're not done until 8:00 at night.
so at times I try to do those things for the county clerk, their cases first.
if we are bringing someone into the court that night, I will do their paperwork first.
since they are staying late and so that -- they have done a really good job in helping us without pretrial services as well.
county attorney's office, defense attorneys.
as you can see the provider, some of this has also been instrumental in getting the -- the team going.
we were meeting once a month, then we went to once every two weeks, then once a week seems like when we were first getting ready to start.
and this -- there were meetings, do not send me another e-mail about another meeting.
we started doing every two weeks and then once a month.
but now it's been about a month since our last meeting that we had.
the mission was something that we all sat and scratched out and decided and actually some other courts from around the state have utilized our mission statement.
it has -- from Travis County.
i said it's okay.
in the mission.
>> [reading graphic] this mission is accomplished through clap active --
>> [reading graphic]
>> like I said before, this is post adjudication dwi court, the basic concept is to increase public safety and based on national trends we know these type of programs do work.
from the -- from the information that we have been provided by the national drug court professionals as well as other dwi courts around the country.
the targeted population of this group, since it is an adult court, is 17 years and older, residents of Travis County or adjacent county arrested in county for a second or subsequent dwi within two years of first arrests or convince.
let me discuss that briefly for you.
someone had a dwi class a in a -- on the probation for that.
they get another dwi with a felony.
we would not necessarily -- we would not see those in this court.
it would be good, they would get some benefit from it.
but -- but it would save us some money from putting them in jail necessarily.
but the -- this court specifically deals with misdemeanors only, class a's or class b's.
so someone is on a probation for a first, picks up another dwi while they are on probation and then gets another dwi, they have three out there, but it's still considered a second for purposes for enhancement, we would see those, see lots of like I said pending firsts, maybe a dwi first class a, class b misdemeanor, may have three of them pending at once, which we've had that on occasion.
and then no other unresolved, like no other cases out there pending.
many reunresolved other cases.
as well as we don't want people with violent criminal history.
we are dealing strictly with the alcohol addiction.
that comes with a lot of other issues, that's why we have the cliniccal part of the program which is very important.
let me talk about the program summary.
the -- first of all, very specific three phases.
with the entire program lasting a minimum of 12 months.
so what the county attorney's office will do typically, not every case, is they first assess whether or not the person is eligible for the dwi court.
meaning their criminal history, if they have any pending cases in any other counties, do the whole background check on the person.
then -- then they contact their defense attorney -- they say this is what we're offering you, do you want this program.
the standard recommendations from the county attorney's office, please correct me if I'm wrong, a two year probation.
this program will last 12 months, most people can't complete this entire program in 12 months.
but some people can.
they're still on probation with me.
so another 12 months.
so there's -- they are not coming to court as frequently, not doing the things that they are having to do in these phases here.
>> I think the only correction that I would make is I think many of the people in the court are probably on 18 months probation.
between 12 and 24 months.
but the majority probably about 18 months.
>> okay.
depends on the --
>> sure, the history all of the factors that we look at everything.
>> so when the county attorney's office assesses whether they will even offer this program to the person.
in they do then the participant would go and get assessed by treatment providers through dr.
nagey's office to determine whether this is the right program for them.
they may not have a serious alcohol problem or maybe there's other issues going on that we need to be addressing.
first is just the alcohol.
so we want to make sure that we put them in the right place.
they do a great job of that.
sometimes they will come back and say we don't recommend this program for this individual.
so we have our meeting, our team meeting, talk about what is a better option for this person.
other times they come back and say yes, it's good, they will still have a position about whether or not we should accept them into the program.
so the -- it's a process.
not a rubber stamp at all.
lots of different people doing their part but then having -- it's not one person's decision whether or not this person is -- is accepted into the program.
everyone has a single voice, not my fault.
nobody's fault, it's just everybody -- everyone has a say.
we ultimately offer to them or not.
depends on the facts of the case.
actually not the facts of this case.
let me correct myself.
on that individual.
and what it's necessary for them.
what it is for them to -- to
>> [indiscernible] the phases are once a week, first they have to report once a week.
seek probation once a week, go to individual treatment twice a week and group twice a week, is that right?
>> group three times a week.
>> so every single day of the week they are doing something related to court, coming to see me, probation or something involved.
the second phase they come every other week to see me, still doing treatment, individual counseling as well as free counseling.
that's a huge part of this.
the -- the participants may want to address this as well, but the group themselves is key.
if you ever seen a drug court, this is -- I think that it's better of course, but the -- the -- the dynamic between the individuals that are participants, they cheer each other on.
they pat each other on the back.
they pick each other up when they need a ride.
one participant who was pregnant when she was in the program, she had that baby, a beautiful baby.
they gave her baby gifts.
it's a family of participants.
they want each other to succeed and when they don't, when they make a mistake along the way, they have a sanction which I will talk about briefly, they -- they are sad for each other, there for each other.
phase iii that's when they come once a month to see me, but still seek probation, seek individual as well as group counseling.
there's of course always right up to the testing, most of the time during phase I I'm going to let dr.
nagey talk mostly about this, she'll talk about exactly the treatment part of it, that's important.
they have to wear scram bracelets.
no drinking allowed, of course on any type of probation.
many people do.
i will put a braces let on them, depends on -- bracelet on them, depends on how long they had it on before.
what the status is.
also be given an occupational license for 30 days.
i knew that -- can you explain the bracelet.
>> I don't know what it's an acronym for.
secure something.
>>
>> [indiscernible] remote control monitoring.
>> say it again.
>> secure continuous remote alcohol monitoring.
an electronic devise that monitors whether alcohol is in the person's bloodstream 24/7.
reports in near real time.
has to be down loaded daily to a data device in the defenders home.
judge earle gets near real time feedback on whether a person has consumed alcohol or not.
>> you wear it on your ankle.
>> it's not a pleasant thing.
i wore one for 24 hours to see what it was like so I could tell them.
it's not fun.
you can't go jogging, you can't do some things.
however, this person will say he did go jogging.
how he went about doing that.
you can't go swimming with it, that kind of a thing.
but that -- then once you show me and the rest of the group that -- this is not just my decision.
this is reviewed beforehand, we go over each person and how they have done that week.
whether or not we should take the scram bracelet off or keep it.
he is not doing right, had troubles at work.
we know more about -- I think that probation I have to say -- in -- tanya is amazing, our probation officer assigned to us.
i think she knows more about the participants than their families do.
she knows some of the secret that's nobody else would probably know.
she knows more about their little big -- whatever might be going wrong in their life that we need to pay extra attention for them for that.
so the community service, those have been on traditional probation, I suspend that during the terms of this program.
if they successfully complete the program they will not have to do those community service hours.
if they mess up in the program, I will order community service hours, a lot of times I will send them out to del valle, go for seven days, picked up by a bus, pick up trash out there.
very much offing accountability issue.
at times I've had to incarcerate some people for failure to comply.
usually not because of alcohol.
not because it's positive.
we have tried not to do that.
it's mostly because they failed to show up to an appointment.
have not made phone calls to -- to be able to say they couldn't make it.
that's an accountability thing.
because other people are relying on that person.
so -- so it happens.
speeches or write essays, read them in court.
and they are pretty amazing.
the people that are in this program are amazing people.
and they have stories and they have struggles like anybody in the world does.
but they are doing something about it by being in this program.
let me have dr.
nagey talk about the treatment aspect, please.
>> so I think that the main point here is that people who participate in the dwi court are in a very intensive program that first involves judicial oversight and coming to the court and meeting with the dwi team as well as judge earle.
they report weekly to their probation officer.
not just a check-in visit but an intensive visit in which time they work with them around any issue that may be barriers to them completing the dwi court and remaining soberment and then there are -- they are also involved in very, very intensive treatment.
so the next slide shows you their level of treatment compared to -- to the average person that's placed on probation that also accesses treatment.
we have limited -- limited treatment resources for -- for misdemeanors in general.
that's a whole different discussion related to -- to constraints that we have around state funding.
but the point here is that in phase 1 you can see that they spend 130 hours counseling, whereas in regular outpatient that could be 63 hours.
they go to 26 -- all or na meetings, generally a a a.
a regular outpatient they have 12 of those.
during that three month period.
and then they have assignments as well.
so they have 162 hours of counseling and interventions compared to 78 hours for the regular misdemeanor that's -- that's required to go to outpatient treatment.
phase two, which is our second phase.
it not automatic, it's after three months how well they have done on the program, that has to be a consensus of everyone on the staffing team they cannot move on.
phase ii they have 87 hours of -- of counseling 52 might goes, so the aa meetings now increase, because they are transitioning into a community environment more than they were before.
it's 139 hours versus 104.
what we don't have here is the third phase which is when they
>> [indiscernible] the court to you, if there's an issue.
they come at her instructions to the court but they still continue the program by reporting to the probation officer and then reporting to -- to after care and then continuing with their aa and involvement.
so they are involved in treatment, support groups, and with the probation officer and with the courts and the entire staffing team intensively for over a year.
and then at the end of that year, if they are successful and the team agrees and judge earle allows, then they report by mail to the probation department.
however, if there's a relapse, then that would end and they would come back and reenter the court or some other kind of treatment intervention whatever the staff feels is most appropriate.
so very intensive program.
>> absolutely.
before I bring up connor and aaron, I was thinking about the outcomes for the county.
i know that you mentioned this.
we have 74 participants now.
as you can see, the potential reduction in jail days, I know that's always been a big issue for Travis County and all counties in Texas, other places as well.
that's 1800 jail days saved or that's just for probation, that's the bare minimum for the 30 days because I suspends the 30 days that they have gotten on the condition of probation, then 4300 jail days saved by the direct jail sentence.
we -- I received a phone call from the washington post doing a story on the dwi court in Texas and they were asking why are y'all soft on crime?
and then after he talked with me, I said call judge wright in Williamson county.
i can promise you that they are not soft on crime, either.
so the story ended up being about how the dwi courts are not about being that way, how Texas is being smart or smarter on how to handle these type of crimes and not just --
>> may I --
>> sure.
>> > are we -- do we know the average cost per case for a case in dwi court versus the average cost of the case that's not in dwi court?
you.
>> you know, I would have to get you the exact numbers, I wish that I would have looked them up.
but the class of the dwi court is about -- the cost of the dwi court is about $4,300.
for treatment alone about $2,500 per participant.
for the regular probationer, it would be -- I would say about 1200 to $1,500.
>> so that's the cost to the probationer.
>> that's the cost of having them go through treatment.
>> the cost to Travis County.
>> yes.
>> or the cost to the probationer.
>> right now it's funded by the governor's grant.
so, yeah, it's significantly more expensive.
but significantly more intensive.
>> and I'm assuming that there is also some -- some financial participation by the -- by the probationer as well?
>> yes.
there is a co-pay, that they pay.
it's minimal at this point in time.
one of the things that we did find is that most of the participants that are involved in the dwi court are not able to pay a great deal because of so many expenses related to dwi's in general, they tend to be young people, many college students, you know, or people that don't have the resources to pay for this intensive treatment because it's pretty intensive.
>> if the grant were to go away and we were to continue with the program, this could be too speculative, it is, I won't go there.
but I too recall y'all working valiantly to keep the costs low so there wouldn't be a cost barrier although there is a language barrier.
>> we are working for that, also have an answer for you, I am happy to report.
there is a $500 dwi court program fee.
like you mentioned, our goal is to get people sober and get them treatment.
we are -- I mean they can talk about like every time I will say get up on your feet, with pat's office, court services, probation, with the program fee.
not to mention the surcharges that you have to pay to d.p.s.
to keep your license.
i mean.
>> dwi surcharges --
>> absolutely out of this world.
so most cities -- their systems are ancient.
if you look at their financial what they have, they don't have much.
they also have lost their jobs, you know, most of the time.
so we do do a financial study and we work with them and determine what their co-pay can be.
>> let me ask you one other question.
in regard to the case in dwi court versus a case non-dwi court.
do we have comparative recidivism rates or is it still too young --
>> it's too young.
we will need to have at least 40 people graduated and then track them for a year before we can give you recidivism rates.
i would say at a year and a half from now, we will be coming back with those numbers.
>> that makes sense.
>> I would expect it from looking at the trends so far and a number of -- the number of probation violations is always an indicator.
i expect very good results.
>> any other highlights we need to hear?
>> I may have already gone over judge the incentives for the program.
as well as basically changing -- the program development I think that I mentioned briefly.
earlier October of 2007, our pilot program implemented and in April when we took our first two participants into the program.
and then in July between April and July is a good point to -- to mention here, between April and July we didn't have funding.
it was -- we were waiting to hear from the governor's grant.
so it was very expensive for someone to say I can do this program if they were going to do 100% of the payment for treatment.
when you think about that, it's only people who have money can be in dwi court which I don't think any of us would want that.
so with the governor's grant that helped that, we were able to do the sliding scale and help people considered indigent who couldn't afford it on their own.
our first graduation in April and then currently in June, 54 participants in the program.
the new goals for 2010, sir, are to continue to operate at maximum, right at over maximum capacity, implement a bilingual treatment track.
we have that -- in the past it was asked to keep those numbers, we named who was applying that was a spanish speaker or any other language barrier that they would have.
and so we have capped those numbers.
now with the help of dr.
nagey and treatment providers we're going to have a counselor who is spanish speaker and our other language to deal with and help people who want to be in this program.
then all of the other -- met all of the other criteria to be in the program to get their needs met.
at this point I would like to ask connor and aaron briefly to come up and give a brief statement.
>> full name, please.
>> I'm connor trey.
>> connor.
>> aaron marks.
>> welcome.
>> just want to say thanks for I guess taking the time to listen to this issue.
it's not always the brightest for us.
but I was -- I got into the program almost a year ago.
it going to be -- it was sent of 2008.
and -- September of 2008.
listening to judge earle kind of outline the program, I thought this applies to me.
applies to me.
my two dwi's were six weeks apart, I had a pengd when I got another still class b I guess right?
so i, you know, kind of like oh, my god I made a huge mistake, what am I going to do?
talking to my lawyer about, you know, not -- not how to get out of it, what are my options at this point.
i didn't really know.
just told him that I looked him in the eye, my only goal is to stay out of jail.
whatever you can do to make that happen kind of -- I didn't really focus on the treatment or about how I needed to change my lifestyle it was not going to jail my focus at the time.
then kept kind of delaying my case delaying my case.
i was in judge earle's courtroom I think once a month at that time.
not talking to her, hiding in the back trying to get my case delayed and delayed, that was our strategy.
then he talked to me about the dwi court and about how, you know, how intensive it would be.
at first I was kind of hesitant only because it is 10 hours of week of just treatment.
doesn't involve anything else.
jufs going to treatment.
it's three and a half hours Monday and Tuesday, three hours on Thursday.
it's from 6:00 to 9:00 or 96:00 to 930.
you have to move your schedule to it.
i think that's pretty important because a lot of times in like regular probation, at least in pretrial, I didn't have that as a priority.
when you have to adjust your entire life to treatment.
it makes you, I know that I did, I don't want to speak for anybody else, I needed to make this my priority in my life.
in order to see some of the changes that I've made.
when you are there like judge earle said 10 hours of treatment a week, it makes it your priority.
then you have to see her, tanya the probation officer once a week.
monthly individual in addition to the 10 hours a week.
so you feel like you are being run and you don't really know what's going to happen.
like aa says take it one day at a time.
you are doing two aa meetings, I forgot about those that you have to do.
so you kind of feel like at the same time you are doing all of this meeting.
like the program fees and stuff.
at the time I was trying to pay off my first lawyer.
you feel like you have got to be in eight places at once, 10 people asking you for money at the same time.
so it can be a little stressful.
but is somethin that you get through because -- something that you get through because you need to.
it makes you aware that, you know, you might -- it's something that each person has to deal with, whether or not you have a problem.
but there's definitely an issue when you have multiple dwi arrests within that short of a time frame.
so you just have to kind of, you know, it forces you to examine your life.
they do monitor you strictly enough like you will have to be sober.
whether or not you want to try to get away with something, I can tell you it's not going to happen, you know, but it's something that you shouldn't want to do.
it shouldn't be like how can I beat the system.
it should be like hey I need to work this, do it right.
i think a program like this is a lot better than anything else out there.
it's something that the participants can get out of what they put in it.
it's not going to be amazing for everyone if they just try to do it to say oh, well it is better than jail, you know.
I think probably most of us in the group who we have become fairly close like not just aaron and i, a lot of us were pretty tight, you know, our motivation may have been to stay out of sacral to get in.
then when you realize all of the other benefits that come from it, it's pretty awesome.
>> would you have had access to this level of alcohol treatment in your private life but for the dwi?
>> I may have had access to it.
but I would feel fairly certain to say that I never would have volunteered for it.
even with, you know, friends and family saying, hey, you know, you need to do this.
i was in that frame of mind where I would not have listened and, you know, takes Travis County beating you over the head to say hey you need to do this.
>> any questions or comments?
aaron?
>> sweet.
>> oh, okay.
my name is aaron marks.
and I have -- I have been sober for almost a year now.
thanks to the help of the people involved with dwi court and I think that I could safely say that it is -- it has -- it is probably one of the best experiences that I've ever had in my life.
like I have rekindled so many, like, hurt relationships with family.
with old friends.
like I -- I managed to get a job.
like, I was unemployed and I drank like constantly before I got into this.
and even during my probation on my first dwi, I drank constantly.
and so -- so when I got into this, they -- they monitored me really closely and I was able to have some time like with sobriety so that I could see like how I affected everybody around me and the way that I was before versus the way that I could see clearly now that I've been sober.
so with that time, I used it really wisely, I went to aa.
and I just -- I just did what they told me to do at first.
but, you know, just like connor, after a while you start listening and you realize that a lot of good things come out of this.
and I held down a job, I actually got promoted into it.
something which has never happened to me before at a job.
i got -- I got a bank account again.
i got a cell phone.
>> [laughter] it's really amazing.
but I think the best thing that came out of this, all of this up to date, more materialistic, they were the things that only -- only that my parents liked.
they like me again, they always loved me, but they like me now, you know.
I could be a better influence on my younger brothers.
i could be a positive influence to friends who may still use, but, you know, they are old friends so I still talk to them.
they look up to me now.
they ask for -- they ask for advice and questions and things like that.
so I think those are the best things that have happened to me throughout all of this.
you know, aside from -- from, you know, having a job and, you know, able -- a sense of responsibility and being accountable, you know, it's just -- my brain has rewired itself, I can think a lot clearer.
i can safely say that I definitely had a problem through all of this.
but with the time that I had sober and then monitoring me and my not using and my aa, I tend to -- I think it's been a very awesome experience, a great journey.
thank you, that's all that I have got.
>> one thing that I would like to add, I'm hoping in 2010 to come up for a plan with an alumni group.
it was mentioned at the dwi court college yesterday.
having graduates maybe be big brothers or big sisters to people who are just starting the program to -- to kind of have questions they may have.
because they would be able to be honest with each other more than coming to me and saying things.
so that's another implementation that we might be thinking about for 2010.
>> any questions for aaron?
two quick questions for the program people.
one is when I look on page 15, I see a long list of fees, that I think governor's grant -- should I think governor's grant?
>> yes, sir.
the $500, they are paying that.
the participants are paying that.
>> all right.
>> we have not collected a lot of it.
like I said before, people who were in the program, I'm just hoping by the -- how they -- how the -- I guess the probation department, we have worded it, you have to put a $500 fee by the end of the program.
by 12 months, you can't graduate until you pay the fee.
that is supposed to be collected by the individual, co-pay, payment for treatment based on -- that's the same as the document that you mentioned about the sliding scale, still having to come up with a small co-pay, maybe really small.
i don't know how much was y'all's co-pay on some of it, do you minds me asking?
>> a dollar a class.
>> which is --
>> like a dollar an hour.
>> sorry.
>> it comes out to like nine to 1 one dollar a month -- $11 a month.
>> that's with the co-pay.
>> we work with the defendants on these fees.
>> all right.
the other question is --
>> on scram.
i'm sorry, I wanted to make sure that I clarified that for you.
i don't have the ability to waive fees for!
>> how much does scram cost?
>> it's like --
>> $9 a day for every day that you are monitored.
>> that doesn't sound like much when you add that, times that by 30, it's --
>> 270 a month.
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> for the regular dwi cases, we appoint lawyers for some of the indigent defendants.
>> yes, sir.
>> so if this is post adjudication, does the counsel appointment terminate after adjudication.
>> the people in the program is post adjudication.
that's separate.
like county county kind of thing, hired a lawyer, once they pled into the program, they are -- they don't have that lawyer anymore.
that lawyer is not hired for them to handle this court process.
bradley and christie are here, like leon was the court attorney for almost a year until he was appear pointed and -- appointed, they are here almost on their own.
also they get paid from the funds that they have, I think that we also have some other funds that we have specified for them for people who are pending motions to revoke.
say, for example, connor fessed up that he had a positive on his scram -- he had a positive.
so I had to put a scram bracelet on him.
it was a motion to revoke.
he could go to jail for that.
i don't know if I put you in jail for that, did i?
>> no, you were very nice.
>> thank you
>> [laughter]
>> but the -- that's key to this program because that person is there, they feel safe.
if he has a question about his occupational license or something, he has a motion to revoke, he wants to talk to somebody who is going to be on his side for it, that would be the defense attorneys in the program.
>> excellent.
we appreciate the update.
>> thank you, sir.
>> thank you.
>> good job.
>> thanks, everyone.
aaron and connor, keep up the good work.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 2:31 PM