Community Mobilization for Substance Abuse Reduction & Prevention

Community Service Council sponsors three main programs to reduce substance abuse and drunk driving by young people: CRASHs Court, the Youthful Drunk Driving (YDD) Program, and Drug Court/DUI Court.

New: CSC’s Courts Programs brochure (July 2008)

CRASHs Court
Courts Raising Awareness of Students in High School

Despite a minimum legal drinking age of 21, many young people in Oklahoma regularly consume alcohol. Unfortunately, alcohol consumption including binge drinking has become all too commonplace (ODMHSAS, 2002). Alcohol remains the number one drug of abuse by young people today (Monitoring the Future, 2002). In fact, alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death and/or serious injury for persons under 25 (NHTSA, 2003). In a recent national survey, nearly half of tenth graders and a third of eighth graders reported riding with a driver who had used alcohol and/or drugs before driving.

ALL alcohol and drug-related crashes are preventable.

CRASHs Court is a 75-minute primary prevention program that relocates the courthouse into a high school auditorium or gymnasium. CRASHs Court is comprised of the following three distinct segments. First, real court is convened by a real judge who sentences real defendants charged with actual pending drug and/or impaired driving offenses from Tulsa County District Court. The sentences imposed are real and binding upon the defendants. Following the court segment, the special judge leads a discussion with the students on making “critical life choices”. Video clips of crashes, deaths by alcohol poisoning, etc. are used to illustrate the serious nature of flawed decision making and the devastating consequences that could result. CRASHs Court is concluded dramatically with the personal testimonial of a victim impact speaker.

The CRASHs Court coordinator schedules the program with the school liaisons in conjunction with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office and with the permission of the Tulsa County District Court, 14th Judicial District. The District Attorney’s Office identifies three defendants for the program. A special judge from District Court conducts the court and interactive discussion portions. Volunteer victim impact speakers conclude the program with a personal testimonial.

CRASHs Court is a primary prevention program that targets the education of 9th grade students in Tulsa County area schools. During the 2002/2003 school year, 7,592 students attended CRASHs Court; a total of 27,666 students have attended since the program’s inception. Students have ranged in age from 7th grade to seniors but 9th graders are the primary target audience. In 2003, twelve schools from ten different school districts participated in CRASHs Court. Student attendance typically varies from 300-1000 students per CRASHs Court session.

CRASHs Court provides the following benefits to the attendees and community:

   Reduce underage drinking and driving among high school students
   Reduce underage drinking especially “binge” drinking among high school students
   Educate students about the potential devastating consequences of high risk alcohol-related behavior including crashes, alcohol poisonings, injuries and death
   Influence choices students make regarding riding with a driver who has been drinking
   Increase seat belt use by high school students
   Increase the legal knowledge of students about the “zero tolerance” statute
   Educate the community about that young drivers are involved in both injury and fatal crashes at twice the rate of older drivers

Youthful Drunk Driving (YDD) Prevention Program

The Youthful Drunk Driving Program (YDD) addresses the widespread problem of impaired driving. The YDD Program was designed to reduce subsequent impaired driving offenses, including driving under the influence (DUI). YDD provides a sentencing alternative to judges for first-time DUI offenders between the ages of 16-25. Currently, referrals are made to the YDD Program from District Court and a number of municipal courts located within Tulsa County. In Oklahoma, the number one cause of death and serious injury for this age group is motor vehicle crashes. When compared with older drivers, young drivers are over-represented in both fatal crash and alcohol-related crash statistics. For fatalities involving alcohol, young drivers are involved at twice the rate for drivers 25 and older (statistics from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office).

YDD provides the following benefits to participants and the community:

   Reduced injuries or death resulting from an impaired driving crash
   Dismissal or reduction of alcohol-related driving charges
   Increased awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and risks associated with this behavior

Following an initial orientation, the YDD Program requires the following sessions (each session is 2 hours unless otherwise noted):

   Trauma Center/Hospital Emergency Room -- Offenders visit an emergency room for two hours to observe first hand the medical treatment of emergency trauma patients, especially alcohol-related injuries
   Rehabilitation Center -- Offenders spend two hours at a hospital based rehabilitation center specializing in head, spinal cord and/or neurological injuries to directly observe patient therapy
   Victim Impact Panel -- Attendance is mandatory at a victim impact panel where the offenders are confronted with tragic stories related by surviving family members who recount the devastating effects that impaired driving has had on their family
   Alcohol/Drug Education -- Offenders discuss issues about their arrests, psychopharmacology of alcohol/drugs, and the financial and human costs associated with impaired driving
   500 Word Essay -- Offenders are required to summarize his/her personal experience related to the impaired driving charge, including a synopsis of the required components in an evaluative essay
   DUI School (10 hours of classroom instruction)
   Alcohol/Drug Assessment (1.5-3 hours)

Community site visits by YDD participants may occur at any combination of the following participating agencies: St. John’s Medical Center, Tulsa Regional Medical Center, OK Neurorestorative Rehabilitation Center, Bernsen Rehabilitation Center, Kaiser Rehabilitation Center, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Victim Impact Panels, Inc., Community Service Council, or by special arrangements elsewhere.

Community Service Council staff members convene regular meetings of all participating agencies to assure coordination of the program, and accountability by all groups involved. Sessions are also used for problem solving, program planning, and special recognitions. Each participating agency volunteers staff and time during their usual course of business to participate, i.e. physical rehabilitation therapists conduct the “rehab” portion of the program; emergency room nurses supervise the participants during the ER visits; a substance abuse counselor from the community conducts the alcohol education class. Each participant spends a minimum of 8 hours out in the community at the various site visits; this portion is provided entirely in-kind by the participating agencies.

Council staff members have extensive background in court proceedings related to alcohol and drug offenses, and have strong working relationships with the DUI/Drug Court judge, District Attorney’s office, Public Defender’s office, attorneys, and all participating organizations. This program is closely integrated with the DUI Court System Development Initiative with its interaction with all the same judicial, law enforcement, and community groups.

YDD Program recipients are first-time defendants charged with an alcohol-related driving offense, jurisdictionally located within Tulsa County, including the 14th Judicial District Court, Tulsa Municipal, Broken Arrow Municipal, Sand Spring Municipal, Owasso Municipal, Bixby Municipal, Jenks Municipal, and Salina Municipal Courts. The charged offense must have occurred within Tulsa County.

From January – December of 2003, 463 offenders participated in the YDD program. 3371 people have participated in YDD since its inception; 83.45% have completed it successfully.

Drug & DUI Therapeutic Substance Abuse Court

The traditional adversarial system of justice is ineffective at addressing alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse. Drug and drug-related crimes are the most common crime in nearly every community. Drug courts evolved in the late 1980s, primarily in response to the overflowing prison populations and patterns of arresting the same defendant over and over for numerous drug or drug-related crimes (Bureau of Justice). As offenders flooded the criminal justice system, many were not identified as having a problem with alcohol or drugs or were released back to the community without receiving treatment, further contributing to the cycle (Drug Court Program Office). The mission of drug courts is to stop the abuse of alcohol and other drugs and related criminal activity. Drug courts offer a compelling choice for individuals whose crimes stem from AOD use. Participants in Drug/DUI Court are closely monitored in judicially supervised treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Successful Drug/DUI Courts require an integrated partnership among all the components, including the judiciary, the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, law enforcement, and the array of community resources needed to support offenders (e.g., assessment, substance abuse treatment, housing, transportation, mental health support).

Tulsa County Adult Drug Court is one of the oldest drug courts in Oklahoma and was operational prior to the Oklahoma Drug Court Act enacted July 1, 1997. A specialized DUI Court (Driving Under the Influence) was implemented in July 2001. In either the Drug or DUI Court, participants must enter a plea of guilty to their current charges prior to acceptance. The Drug/DUI Court program is designed to last between one and two years in compliance with the Oklahoma Drug Court Act. The average length of time for participation is 18 months. Currently, there are four phases or levels participants must complete prior to graduating from the Drug/DUI Courts. Participants are subjected to frequent case reviews, random drug testing, and intensive AOD treatment. Participants are required to maintain employment. Those who are not high school graduates must obtain a GED. Failure to comply with the court rules can result in intermediate sanctions being imposed, modification of treatment, or termination from the Drug/DUI Court. A participant is eligible for graduation upon successful completion of all requirements and treatment phases and having remained drug and alcohol free for at least six months.

All participants are linked through the coordinated system of assistance to treatment, assessment, and an array of support services through the work of the DUI/Drug Court Coordinator. Data management for the process also is the responsibility of the Coordinator. As of December 31, 2003 Drug Court has successfully graduated 337 defendants; 59 participants have graduated successfully from DUI Court.

Drug & DUI Court is held at the Tulsa County District Courthouse located at 500 S. Denver in Courtroom 329. Planning and coordination sessions with all the partners occur at the Community Service Council offices. The program requires close coordination among the “drug court team” including the district attorney’s office, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, court services, the public defender’s office, the judiciary, court administration, police and sheriff officials, and the court clerk, as well as between the team and community treatment agencies and other resources assisting court participants. The CSC staff serving as the coordinator for the system development work is highly experienced in court and community resources related to drug and alcohol concerns.

Program participants are adult, non-violent offenders with substance abuse histories and current AOD-related charges. Participants must reside in Tulsa County. Additionally, eligibility to DUI Court is restricted to defendants charged with multiple felony-level driving under the influence offenses. In the calendar year of 2003, Drug Court pled in 61 defendants; DUI Court admitted 69. For Tulsa County, the average defendant profile is a white male, 33 years of age with at least a high school diploma. Applicants to Drug Court must have a current felony level drug charge which is usually possession or distribution, whereas for DUI Court, participants must be charged with a felony level driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs charge. In DUI Court, the most defendants have between 3-5 prior felony level DUI arrests.

Benefits:

   Upon successful completion, pending AOD charges against the defendant may be dismissed or reduced
   Defendants remain in the community during their participation, avoiding incarceration in state prison
   Participants receive individualized, client-centered AOD treatment to address their substance abuse problem
   Participants receive assistance and referrals for education, vocational and job skills, parenting, medical and dental care

Indicators of change include reduced new criminal charges, increased employment and educational levels, compliance with child support orders, and reduced use of illegal drugs and alcohol.

Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center completes an annual evaluation of the numerous Oklahoma Drug Courts for outcomes. Statistical information is submitted when a participant enters Drug Court, upon successful completion of each required phase, and upon graduation. Statistical information includes, but is not limited to, employment wages, housing, child support, program compliance, drug test results, etc. It takes a minimum of 12–15 months to complete the program. To date, 121 of the 316 people who entered the program have graduated (38%); others are still in the process of completing the program’s phases.

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For more information: Rose Ewing, 918-585-5551.