Page County drug treatment court to launch with boost from JMU professor

"Page County Courthouse" by Jimmy Wayne is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Page County justice officials are willing to try a growingly popular alternative to jailing generations of non-violent drug offenders and, with some help from a James Madison University professor and the launch of a new adult drug treatment court this spring, there’s hope they can change the pattern for many offenders.

Drug treatment courts have operated in Virginia since 1995. Since 2004, when the General Assembly passed the Drug Treatment Court Act, they have come under the supervision of the Virginia Supreme Court.

Launching such a court takes money, time, effort and expertise, something the county lacked before getting help from James Madison University Political Science professor Amanda Teye. Teye, along with several JMU graduate students and political science professor Lili Peaslee, has dedicated nearly two years to launching the new jail diversion program in Page County.

Professor Teye, who teaches in the JMU master of public administration program and undergraduate public policy and administration major, wrote a highly competitive $500,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance grant on behalf of the county that will fund the court for its first three years and has provided other technical support and assistance, including co-authoring a new Virginia State Supreme Court Docket with local public defender Tim Coyne.

“Writing the grant was one thing,” Teye said. “But the work that we do on the other end of that is much more expansive, and that is building the partnerships, getting the yeses, being on the ground, having the meetings, working through issues.”

Having a drug treatment court requires collaboration between probation, law enforcement, the Commonwealth Attorney, service providers and the judge. In Page County, judicial oversight will be provided by Circuit Court Judge Clark Ritchie. Offenders who qualify for the jail diversion program have to agree to complete five phases of substance use treatment and supervision during their probation, all of which requires various levels of community coordination and frequent drug testing.

Coyne said, "Dr. Teye's work enabled us to obtain a very competitive federal grant and made it possible to implement this vitally important program in our criminal justice system. It is my hope that this program will break the disease of addiction for drug court participants, transform their lives and make them productive members of the community."

Page County Commonwealth's Attorney Kenneth Alger said, "The disease of addiction is something the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office deals with on a daily basis. The implementation of a drug court for Page County means hope for long term success for defendants and not merely a revolving door of incarceration, thus creating a more successful and healthy community. Dr. Teye's contributions to the creation of our drug court was invaluable. Without her extensive knowledge and leadership, we would still be in the planning phases."

Among many things, grant funding includes the salary of a case manager, which will be staffed through the Northwestern Community Service Board, a full-time drug court coordinator, drug testing, part-time law enforcement support, four residential beds a year in a treatment facility, and team training.

After the court’s first three years, Teye hopes there is enough support that the program will get long-term local funding.

“In grant writing, we always set a goal to prove our program worthy of public support,” Teye said. “Projects like this, once they get up and rolling, build momentum to sustain themselves through demonstration of positive outcomes and overall efficiency.”

Teye said the cost of keeping someone in jail ranges from $55 to $90 a day, up to about $32,850 a year, excluding additional costs for those with mental illness or co-occurring disorders. “Generally speaking, the first two participants can pay for the drug court coordinator and then some,” she said. “The third and fourth pay for your case manager and supervision costs. On top of that, you’re just saving money.”

Peaslee added, “Some of it relies on money, but some of it is also reliant on relationships. A lot of what we do is bring people together to develop the relationships so they can figure out how they can work together that may not require a lot of money.”

Teye said Page County’s presiding judge, public defender, sheriff and commonwealth’s attorney are so open and willing because they’ve seen generation after generation come through the court system with substance abuse issues. “It has been extremely rewarding to work with these dedicated public servants, excited about change in the community,” she said.

Teye also credited the political science department for supporting her work, which she and Dr. Peaslee also use in their teaching. “Our students helped do some really foundational research on needs in Page County for this grant application,” Teye said. “They get lots of applied experience that helps them out after graduation, writing grants, implementing grants, assessing grants, and managing public programs.”

On one project, a student even stepped in as the drug court coordinator for two months while there was a vacancy.

Media contact: Eric Gorton, gortonej@jmu.edu, 540-908-1760

# # #