Travis County Commissioners Court
September 1, 2009,
Item 34
Item number 34, receive video presentation on Travis County family drug treatment court program and presentation of success stories and results.
>> good morning, judge and Commissioner.
darleen burns.
pleasure to see you all.
i know you are getting ready for the lunch hour.
good morning, sir.
i'm days prior to the event loon burn.
i preside over the family treatment drug court.
this is a civil drug court, as you know, we have numerous drug courts in Travis County, the juvenile as well as the adult criminal drug court.
this is a separate drug court on the civil side involving families that have a case pending with the department of family and protective services where there are allegations of risk of abuse or neglect to their children.
and in this instance we're dealing with the risk of abused or neglect primarily arising as a result of drug use.
and so that's what this court is about and we wanted to share with you, we know you are very, very busy, and this court has been in existence since March 2008.
we are about a year and a half old now and we've wanted to tell you a little about what you have been courageous enough to support.
i have with me miss michelle kimbro.
she is the drug coordinator.
she will lay a little more foundation and then we'll let you bring the court to you as opposed to you having come to our court.
but also know at any time you are always welcome to come and observe drug court any time you have any free moment on a Thursday morning.
miss kimbro.
>> hello.
i am michelle kimbro, the drug court coordinator.
i've been an employee of the county since January of 2008.
i'm very -- feel very privileged to present this program to you.
we're going to be showing you a video that was actually produced by the Travis County media services that actually does this broadcast.
so just wanted to give you a little bit of background information about the court.
we are a 12 to 18-month program.
so we've actually only had a few of our participants that have even been in the program for 12 to 18 months.
you know, we've just been gradually getting up to our capacity.
we are officially now at 31 participants so we've actually grown very steadily over the last year and a half.
and we also do want to point out that the grants that fund the Travis County family drug treatment court are grants that your court has certified.
they are the parenting and recovery grant, the $2.5 million grant to help Travis County health and human services that provides for all of the drug treatment as well as some housing assistance and other assistance for the participants.
and then there is also the governor's grant from the criminal justice division of the governor's office that actually pays for my salary for drug testing and for some other supplemental services for our participants.
>> I wanted to make sure you understood that the $2.5 million is a five-year grant and so it is over five years and we are now at about two and a half years into that granting cycle.
so the first year was a lot of planning associated with laying out the drug court and then there are treatment dollars in that granting for about 90 days worth of substance abuse treatment that's very good quality treatment.
with that, I don't know whether the technology will allow the video to proceed, but if they are ready, we're ready.
>> [applause]
>> I just wanted to say what we've said about why this drug court is all about.
it's not about parents paying their kids back, it's about children getting their parents back.
>> the drug court participant has got to be held accountable for their commitments, their commitments to the drug court team, to their own sobriety.
and they have to be just and not too harsh but not really lax either.
>> all rise.
thank you.
you all can be seated.
we have our drug court
>> [inaudible] seated in two rows.
we collaborated with some other entities to get a $2.5 million grant.
$500,000 each year through the federal government.
that grant is called parenting and recovery.
>> my goal is to have one or two really solid resources available for every piece of a participant's recovery.
>> we got an employee for the county, our drug court coordinator, miss michelle kimbro, through the governor's office grant.
many of these women have had their parental rights terminated to previous children.
didn't have a whole lot of trust of the system, didn't have a whole lot of trust in child protective services but were willing to take on the services that they were provided in this program.
>> it really is a collaborative effort to provide services that help the mother but really the child.
and we help the child through the mother.
>> typically women that have a significant substance abuse problem that has dependence on a drug, many have given birth to a dug positive baby or multiple drug positive babies and have struggled with the issues of poverty and of chemical dependency for many years.
>> a sober mother, especially a sober, very young mother, offers a lot of hope for Travis County children.
>> cps is typically the first referral source and so they are out in the field visiting with the parent about the possibility of drug court if they are appropriate for drug court, if drugs are their issue, that's one thing.
and then do they have a child that's five our under.
that's another issue.
the program is able to provide the sober and healthy homes and homes that we can reunify the families together and that is the best interest of the children.
>> we do know that child protective services workers have a very difficult job.
it's a very thankless job in many instances.
and often they don't feel the support from the community that we would like them to feel.
and this family drug court has given us a platform and venue in which to make them feel like we're all on the same team trying to help the families of central Texas.
>> if they describe that they want to participate in drug court, they have to sign a contract.
then the contract comes back to the whole team as well as interview reports from miss kimbro and the department's report and we as a team decide whether we wish to invite them to participate in drug court.
>> judge burn has c.p.s.
court docket and all of the drug court women are expects but not all the c.p.s.
women are in drug court.
>> in the staffing, every person in that courtroom has a representative, including the parent.
>> I am there so if they have anything that needs to be said that they can be heard.
i can always speak up to -- regarding, you know, what -- what my client's wishes might be or if I think there's an issue I might like to discuss later.
i'm there so my client has a voice in that staffing.
>> we are focusing on the parent and that's, of course, the main goal to see how the parent is doing.
we also need to keep in mind the needs of the children and making sure the children aren't being left in dangerous situations by the parent's action or by the possible praysments.
>> I have actually taken the bench in drug court and I have done something different than was talked about in staffing.
and the difference arose out of the verbal advocacy of the parent.
because that's the only unique flavor to the drug court is my interaction with the actual participant.
>> the judge is very nurturing, very supportive.
they look forward to getting in front of her.
>> decisions get made in staffing,, of course, but we also go into court and my client is going to have an opportunity to speak face to face with a judge and opportunity to discuss with the judge, you know, how they feel about -- whatever situation that we're discussing.
>> we do come down harder on some individuals than maybe the other players.
we're not social workers, we are lawyers and we are look ago the the legal ramifications of a case and making sure those standards are met.
>> it is kind of a stressful time.
it requires myself and c.p.s.
and as casa and all of the team members to really support them at that point in time.
>> once they leave residential treatment, we work very diligently in their charge planning to either get them in a sober house that will take children or to get them with community's foundation and get longer term housing in place.
>> and
>> [inaudible] and recovery will pay rent for families up to nine months after they get out of treatment.
>> and then as they progress through phases, there are charles that coincide with their phase of recovery.
mr.
jim krueger and some casas have assisted us in developing this fund.
it's called the safe start fund.
>> it is so cool to walk down a hall and see all these women with their bracelets on and see the charms on them and know that this is making a difference in their life and this is helping them raise good kids.
because that's the goal, to raise good kids.
>> the best interests of the child is not to be in state's custody, by any means.
the state is not a good parent.
>> I want them first and foremost I want them to succeed, I want them to be healthy, I want them to be sober.
i want their children to come home to them if it can be safe.
>> hello, friends.
wait a minute.
you're not my friend.
you just wanted me to believe you were going to be there until the end.
but you knew what you were doing.
all you did was tear my life apart.
you made me lie, cheat and break my kids and family's heart.
because of you I lost my life.
if you are cutting us with a sharp blade knife.
i'm in recovery and this is where it ends.
stay away and out of my life forever.
i don't need you and I don't want you.
besides, being sober will bring much more pleasure.
i'm going to be sober from now on so I can raise my child happily.
>> [applause]
>> there's a lot of applause that comes out of my courtroom.
it's very exciting.
there's more applause that happens in my courtroom than the alternative of accountability.
you see a lot of parents fighting in there to succeed and fighting to have the privilege of being a full-time parent.
>> ladies, it can be done.
and everybody is here to have --
>> [inaudible].
>> [music playing]
>> [singing]
>> thank you, allen, juan, y'all are great.
they spent quite a bit of time in our court, as you can see.
we did provide you with some materials and I know you are getting close to lunch and your time is very valuable.
we presented to you a power point and we're happy to just defer to that power point and let you look at that material on your own or we're happy to go through some of the highlights related to that power point.
there's no action item that we're asking you to -- to take.
one of the things that is of concern, of course, is that we are two years into a five-year granting period of $2.5 million.
a couple of lynchpins that grant has provided to this community that has allowed this program to be successful is 90 days of inpatient treatment.
and why do I say that's to critical?
most of the moms or other family members that are not in this drug court, if we get treatment through a c.p.s.
case and we have that available to us through dishes, it's at most usually 28 days.
many of these people have been using since they were teenagers.
and 28 days we have found has been just the beginning of them coming out of their addiction shun.
so the 90 days of good quality inpatient treatment has been one of the successful cornerstones of this program and that grant is going away in two and a half years.
another component that has been incredibly successful that that grant has allowed us to fund is a lot of parenting coaching.
a lot of these parents have never had their children in their care ever.
many of these parents have had multiple children that they have lost to the department of family and protective services and have been adopted away to nonrelatives or relatives.
many of these parents have never attempted to parent sober ever.
they don't have any remembrance of their own parents parenting them sober ever.
so one of the important components of this program is parenting coaching.
and we get that through an entity called family connections and the cradles program that we partner with.
in addition housing for this population is very troubling and in your power point you'll look and see some of the criminal histories of some of these parents and you'll note that many of those criminal histories relate to criminal activity that supports their drug addiction, that funds their drug addictions while those criminal safe and stable housing.
the cycle begins if we don't break the cycle.
we have found there's only been one evidence based study that has been done of this type of drug court modality in the country and it studied four of these types of drug courts related to civil cases and foster children and their parents.
and every one of those four studies indicate that going through this type of court reunifies families more often than not and ends the cycle more often than not than the regular c.p.s.
type docket.
we want to thank this Commissioners court for your courage in allowing us to do this since March of '08 and to let you know that you've done good work.
some of the numbers that you have, I think we've provided with you this documentation in your packet today, it lets you see the comparison of drug court use that are with their children versus the normal c.p.s.
docket that are with their children.
the difference is between 11% of drug court children are in foster care as opposed to the other 53% of other c.p.s.
docketed cases.
so there's quite a difference there.
and it's because we have a safe environment where they are with their mom in treatment in the 90 days with the assistance of some wrap-around parenting coaching while they are in treatment.
and then they come out with some protective housing on the back end of their 90 days of treatment.
unless there are any questions that have you about the materials that you presented, we don't want to take up any more of your time.
>> I have two questions.
first is when did that five-year period start?
>> that five-year period, I know that we started the drug court March of '08.
we've been looking at doing a drug court since August 2006.
the five years for the parenting and recovery grant, icf(0k-'d ire(rno carrierringcot there is a reason I ask that question.
>> I'm sure there is.
>> mr.
reeferseed.
>> just briefly I wanted to thank everyone for this vital program to help prevent fetal alcohol syndrome.
along those lines even better results there follow.
total freedom for farmers.
decriminalizing and legalizing hemp, marijuana.
>> thank you.
judge, you and miss kimbro gained a friend today.
>> thank you, judge.
we could always use some friends.
>> keep up the good work.
move we reset to 1:30.
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
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, September 1, 2009 3:14 PM
