"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

This Chinese saying embraces the idea of what drug courts are all about. They are about helping people to take one step at a time in the direction of sobriety, which often involves a lengthy journey of recovery. While drug courts may, in part, be meant to hold people accountable for their substance abuse, they are primarily there to lift the spirits of men and women enslaved by the lure and powerful attraction of illicit drugs and alcohol. Drug courts serve as tools of therapeutic jurisprudence and as problem-solving systems; they are designed to help enable and empower those dehumanized by substance abuse to achieve a drug-free lifestyle and to obtain a new lease on enjoying a fruitful, meaningful, and worthwhile existence.

Substance abuse is perhaps one of the most destructive forces. It often leads to the break up of families and irreparable harm to children. Substance abuse infiltrates the lives of many families, and frequently triggers a devastating storm that leads to child abuse and neglect.

Recognizing this reality, the 65th Judicial District Family Court, which is a designated Victims Act Model Court of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, created two types of drug courts to exclusively serve the needs of parents with substance abuse issues involved with Child Protective Services (“CPS”). At the present time, over 80 percent of court cases brought by the Child Protective Services division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services involve one or more parents with substance abuse issues. Family drug courts are essential partners with CPS in carrying out the federally mandated preservation and reunification efforts that the state agency is required to pursue. The two El Paso family drug courts for Child Protective Services cases have proven to be innovative and trail blazers, helping to reunify families successfully and expediently, and helping to maintain a low recidivism in substance abuse reoccurrences.

The first of the 65th Judicial District Family Court’s drug courts is referred to as the Intervention Track Family Drug Court. It is designed to provide a full range of drug court services to parents with substance abuse issues who have an active CPS court case. The drug court program entails an intensive array of services which include, among other things, inpatient and outpatient services, random drug testing, counseling and therapy on a wide spectrum of areas, parenting classes, and other services deemed necessary and appropriate for the individual participants.

The judicial supervision of the drug court also involves the professional support of a treatment team, composed of CPS staff, drug court staff, treatment providers, and other professionals, which closely reviews each participant’s needs and progress in the program. The judge and the treatment team work diligently to consistently assure that drug court participants are afforded quality assistance, training, and services at every stage of the program.

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There are three phases which participants must successfully complete before graduating from the drug court program. Generally, the duration of the program is from six months to one year. There are also support groups and other post-drug court services available to the participants upon graduation, so that the drug court graduates continue to have access to support systems to help them maintain sobriety.

The second drug court managed by the 65th Judicial District Family Court is referred to as the Preservation or Preventive Track Family Drug Court. This is a relatively new type of family drug court. Very few presently exist nationwide. As jurisdictions become more aware and familiar with this type of family drug court, it is expected that they will become more popular.

The Preservation or Preventive Track Family Drug Court mirrors all aspects of the Intervention Track Family Drug Court, except that the participants of this drug court do not have an active Child Protective Services “court case.” Basically, it is a drug court that seeks to preserve the family by affording the full gambit of services offered in the Intervention Track Drug Court. Its objective is not only to protect and keep children safe but also to help prevent the removal of the children from their homes. That is, the goal is to provide the necessary professional assistance to families with substance abuse issues so that those families never have to come into the court system through the institution of a lawsuit filed by CPS, and have their children removed. Those coming into this family drug court are people referred to the program by the CPS Family Based Safety Services (FBSS) case workers and supervisors.

People join these family drug courts on a voluntary basis. Prospective participants are asked to first observe some of the drug court sessions before deciding whether to enter or not enter the program. Additionally, prospective participants can ask questions and receive information prior to making their decision to become part of the drug court program. The idea is for the individuals to make an informed decision and to have ample time afforded to them to recognize the tremendous advantages and benefits of joining what many consider to be a very promising substance abuse program.

In essence, drug courts are about second chances. They are about people helping people. Asa Hutchinson, the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security and Former Administrator with the Drug Enforcement Administration, sees drug courts as an avenue of opportunity. He states: “Through drug courts, we have an opportunity to build an era of responsibility…Everyday you are giving people a second chance at a new future. That is what America is about. We are a nation of second chances.”

And so it is that we all have a stake in this. We all have a responsibility to help lift others, for as the celebrated American businessman, William Pollard, observes, “It is the responsibility of leadership to provide opportunity, and the responsibility of individuals to contribute.” Drug courts do precisely that. They contribute the gift of opportunity.