Court creates drug treatment program

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

With substance abuse a major factor in criminal court cases in Van Wert County — Common Pleas Judge Charles D. Steele recently implemented a new program to supplement aftercare treatment available for those on community control terms in the county, as well as those who go through the Western Ohio Regional Treatment and Habilitation (WORTH) Center in Lima.

“About 90 percent of the people we have (in the court system), even though they’re not charged with a drug or alcohol offense, it’s part of their life,” Judge Steele noted.

The prevalence of drug-related crimes and crimes committed to raise money to buy drugs has led to the creation of a new drug treatment program to supplement programs already in place. Judge Steele said the new 20-week group counseling program, called Aftercare Recovery Groups, will be led by Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor Tom Schatzer.

Schatzer has more than 20 years experience of providing drug and alcohol counseling and related services in Ohio and Indiana. He is also an adjunct professor at Wright State University’s Lake Campus and a counselor at Restoration Counseling Center, both in Celina.

The Common Pleas Court program will focus on addiction issues, the processes of addiction and recovery, and on probationers making positive changes in their lives.

The new program will be funded by a combination of Common Pleas Court’s Special Projects Fund, as well as a $4,000 Community Corrections grant written by Adult Probation Office Jim Loughrie. The 20 weekly sessions, which began about a month ago, are held in the basement meeting room in the Courthouse.

According to Judge Steele, two groups of 20 probationers are now taking the program, with hopefully more being added in the future, depending on available funding and how much time Schatzer can devote to it.

Judge Steele said the WORTH Center program does a good job, with approximately 50 percent of those completing the program able to remain drug- and alcohol free. However, the judge also said he recognizes that an after-care program could increase that percentage.

“The WORTH Center is always pushing for after care, so we’re trying to do that,” Judge Steele said.

Although the judge said the local drug statistics could be worse, noting that out of a county of 30,000 people only approximately 200 indictments come through his court a year, he also called those indicted “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to assessing the county’s real drug use situation.

Furthermore, with an increasing number of offenders on community control (probation), Judge Steele noted, meeting the treatment needs of offenders is an important factor in preventing further offenses.

Ironically, the judge concluded, those on community control with the county are more likely to deal successfully with their substance abuse habits than those who come out of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction’s Intensive Prison Program — an in-house prison program similar to the WORTH Center.

Judge Steele said that lack of state funding and manpower means that prisoners who go through the IPP and are given an early release from prison are not under the level of supervision those on community control are subjected to in the county.

“The (Ohio) Parole Authority doesn’t even have enough money to do drug tests (on those released early from prison),” the judge said, adding that supervision of prison inmates released early is much less than that given to those on community control under the supervision of the County Adult Probation Department.