Staff:
Marilyn Moe
The Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Committee met at the Kelly Inn, in Bismarck, on
September 26, 2006. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Juvenile Court Seminar.
Judge Karen Braaten chaired the meeting in the absence of Justice Mary Maring. New Business
A motion was made to approve the minutes of April 21, 2006, by Judge Romanick
and seconded by Deb Davis. Motion carried.
Mike Pesch reported for the Grand Forks team. There are currently ten participants in the program. The summer art-history project ended a couple of weeks ago. Six buffalo were created by the participants and team members out of drift wood. The buffalo will be on display
at the UND Museum of Art during the months of October and November. The program was a
huge success. The participants and team members celebrated the end of summer with a kick-ball
game.
Sue Lass reported for the Fargo team. Fargo currently has twelve participants in its program. The mentorship program with the Fargo Police Department has included one activity per month. The group has visit historical sites, gone bowling and rockwall climbing. Some of the police officers have been attending drug court graduations.
Sue Lass facilitated the writing program for the summer months. The participants were
required to each write a memoir. One participant has agreed to share his memoir with the rest of
the drug courts.
Five juvenile drug court participants were employed by the Forestry Department at North Dakota State University. The participants were required to work a 40-hour week. The project was considered to be a huge success.
Jackie Presley reported for the Bismarck team. Bismarck currently has twelve participants in its program. The participants and team members are participating in a community soup kitchen that takes place every Thursday evening. The program is sponsored by area churches.
John Grinsteinner and Jackie Presley continue to work on a mentoring program with the Criminal Justice and Social Work programs at Bismarck State College. This program will include tutoring, exploring college options and understanding financial aid.
Jackie Presley is also working on a mentoring project with the Dakota Wizards basketball team.
The team continues to work on an aftercare path and plans to implement it in January 1, 2007.
Susan Hoffer reported on the planning of the Minot Juvenile Drug Court. The team continues to meet monthly with all team members. The coordinator, prosecutor, and defense counsel have completed the National Drug Court Institute Practitioner Training. Judge Mattson will attend training in October. The team will complete training in December and plan to begin operation on January 1, 2007. The team will travel to Grand Forks for team training on November 9th. Mentors from the other drug courts have been assigned to each team member.
Dr. Kevin Thompson reported on the CAFAS study that was completed in August. This study assessed whether there existed treatment progress differences between juvenile drug court participants and substance abusing juveniles not exposed to drug court. CAFAS is used to assess the effect of symptoms in children and adolescents with emotional, behavioral, or substance use disorders. Seven subscales were employed in this study: (1) School Performance, (2) Home Functioning, (3) Delinquency, (4) Behavior toward others, (5) Moods/emotions, (6) Substance use, and (7) Family/Social Support. The data showed that all three groups made substantial progress on all of the subscale domains during the first 90 days of treatment.
Following 90 days, drug court graduates continued to make substantial treatment gains.
Comparison group subjects exhibited modest gains and terminated participants tended to either
stall in treatment progress of progress. Discussion followed on the data outcomes and Dr.
Thompson's recommendations. Deb Davis, treatment provider for Northeast Central Juvenile
Drug Court, stated that lack of family support and continued family conflict could explain for
some of the data on the terminated youth. The structure of juvenile drug court along with
treatment clearly shows the effectiveness of the drug court program.
Marilyn Moe reported on funding for 2007-2009. The Supreme Court will receive funds from the Enforcement Underage Drinking Laws Grant through the next biennium. The Supreme Court will also be asking for appropriations for operating funds for five juvenile drug courts. Justice Maring and Marilyn Moe met with interested parties in Williston to discuss juvenile drug court. Tentative plans are to implement a juvenile drug court in Williston in 2007. Discussion continued on budgets and finances.
Advisory Committee Membership - The committee discussed the possibility of downsizing the membership of the advisory committee. The group felt that having a large group was beneficial to all team members. Marilyn Moe agreed to check into Interactive Video
Network Conferencing for future meetings. The committee agreed that it would be their
preference that the whole group continues to meet twice a year. A motion was made by John
Grinsteinner to have all team members attend the advisory committee meetings if funds are
available or at least once a year during the fall training and three representatives once a
year. Motion seconded by Judge Romanick
Old Business:
Copies of Brad Peterson's presentation at the National Drug Court Training
Conference on the Indian Child Welfare Act were distributed.
Judge Braaten reported on the revision of the Program Manual. The assigned committee has agreed to wait until the Minot Juvenile Drug Court is operating before revising the program manual. The Advisory committee was in agreement.
Next meeting will be set for April 20, 2007 in Bismarck. The fall meeting will be held in Grand Forks.
There being no further business a motion to adjourn was made by Judge Romanick and seconded by John Grinsteinner.
Respectfully submitted:
Marilyn Moe