{"id":10636,"date":"2015-03-01T11:25:25","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T11:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=10636"},"modified":"2017-10-19T10:55:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T10:55:32","slug":"putnam-drug-court-honors-new-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2015\/03\/putnam-drug-court-honors-new-graduates\/","title":{"rendered":"Putnam drug court honors new graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Joeseph K. Reeder and Putnam County Adult Drug Court Probation Officer LaKeisha Barron-Brown applaud the accomplishment\/graduation of Stacy Casto Wednesday at the Putnam County Judicial Building in Winfield. Casto was quoted by Judge Reeder as she was being introduced saying, “Judge, I’m\u00a0gonna graduate and I want my picture in the paper with you.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Putnam County Drug Court Graduates Lindsey Eddy and Stacy Casto sit relieved and all smiles at their accomplishemnt Wednesday at the Putnam County Judicail Building in Winfield. Bob Wojcieszak\/Daily<\/span><\/p>\n

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With a picture of his mug shot on the screen before him, Putnam County Drug Court Graduate Craig Owens goes through the circumstances in his life that forced him to take a long look at where he was going and what made him seek out Putnam County Circuit Judge Joeseph K. Reeder to sign up for drug court and change. Having been arrested twenty one times in his past, Owens used the Putnam County Drug Court to change his life. Behind him is Judge Reeder. Bob Wojcieszak\/Daily Mail<\/span><\/p>\n

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Having been involved with drugs since the age of twelve, twenty-year-old Putnam County Drug Court Graduate Lindsey Eddy looks at a composity picture of who she was when she was arrested and what she looks like clean and sober during Putnam County Drug Court Graduation ceremonies Wednesday at the Putnam County Judicial Building. <\/span><\/p>\n

A drug addict of more than 30 years, Stacy Casto was facing felony drug charges when she was given a second chance in Putnam County\u2019s new adult drug court program.<\/span><\/p>\n

Putnam Circuit Court Judge Joseph K. Reeder met with the first class of offenders more than a year ago to explain how intensive drug court would be; constant drug testing, home visits, counselling and curfews.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(Casto) was the first person who spoke up, and when she did, she said \u2018Judge, I\u2019m going to graduate and when I do I want my picture in the paper with you,\u2019\u201d Reeder said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Casto, of Hometown, was among the first five graduates of Putnam County\u2019s adult drug court program. Casto, Lori Hodges, Craig Owens, Lindsey Eddy and Jacob Pauley were honored during a graduation ceremony Wednesday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.<\/span><\/p>\n

Family and friends packed a courtroom as Reeder spoke about each graduate\u2019s transformation. Many admitted they believed they would have been dead today if it weren\u2019t for drug court.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lindsey Eddy, 21, of Hurricane, starting using heroin when she was 12 years old. She had been through the juvenile court system and was most recently arrested for violating her probation order from felony drug charges she received when she was 18 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

As of Wednesday, Eddy had been drug-free for 221 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, my life was hectic,\u201d Eddy said. \u201cI was always worried about my next high or what I was going to do for my next high. I never really imagined life without drugs. I tried rehabs and regular probation and I failed at that, and until I was entered into the drug court problem, this was the only thing that\u2019s worked for me and it\u2019s helped me out tremendously. I\u2019m responsible now and I have a full time job, and I\u2019ve been sober.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Putnam adult drug court probation officer Lakeside Barron-Brown said Putnam\u2019s program began in November 2013. She said candidates for the program have had drug-related charges or convictions, and must be willing to work toward a drug-free life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce accepted into our program, they then come into a very intensive, therapeutic setting within our court system,\u201d Barron-Brown said. \u201cThey are placed on home confinement, and the judge determines when they should be released.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Offenders go through three phases, each lasting at least four months. During the first phase, they\u2019re subjected to multiple drug tests and home visits a week. They attend group and individual counselling, put in community service hours and abide by a curfew.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the second phase, drug court offenders receive help looking for and obtaining a job. In the third phase, Barron-Brown said offenders are given \u201ca little more room\u201d to become stabilized for society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron-Brown said all five graduates had obtained jobs during the program and are still working those jobs to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have five graduates here that when they first started, they were apprehensive about not knowing what to expect \u2014 the same as when you go into a college class and the professor says \u2018Here\u2019s a syllabus, you have a test\u2019 and not knowing what the test is like until you\u2019ve taken the test,\u201d Barron-Brown said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what drug court has been for our clients. It\u2019s a test of seeing how confident they can become and seeing how much self-esteem and self-worth they can gain. Obviously, all of them have shown they can be successful and they can be drug-free.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Brent D. Benjamin congratulated the five men and women for turning their lives around. He pointed out that West Virginia\u2019s adult drug court system is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and that\u00a01,000 adults and juveniles have successfully completed<\/a><\/span>\u00a0drug court programs in West Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019ve done is something a lot of people can\u2019t do or haven\u2019t done,\u201d Benjamin told the graduates during the ceremony. \u201cThankfully we have a state in which you have an opportunity to do this.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re in control of your lives now, and you weren\u2019t before. And now you have the opportunity that not many people have; to turn around to the next drug court class and help them,\u201d Benjamin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reeder said offenders can get into the drug court by either entering a hybrid or conditional plea that allows for their charges to be lessened or dropped upon successful completion of the program, or by accepting drug court as a sentence in lieu of prison time. He said drug court is a good alternative to prison, but it takes a lot of work and responsibility for those who go through the program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very important not just for the graduates involved, but it\u2019s also important for Putnam County and our community because drugs have become such a problem in our society,\u201d Reeder said. \u201cIt\u2019s good that a program like this does give these folks a chance to rehabilitate and to get back on track.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Casto said drug court \u201ccompletely saved my life\u201d because it gave her the ability to get help to fight her addiction \u00ad\u2014 something she says prison time wouldn\u2019t have done. Now that she\u2019s sober, Casto said she would like to help juveniles who are battling addiction problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I had to have something in my life in order to change my life,\u201d Casto said. \u201cThey offered counseling, they offered classes on drug prevention, they offered all these different things that I knew prison wouldn\u2019t do for me. I\u2019ve been a drug addict for 30 years, but during this time, I\u2019ve started going to church, I\u2019ve given my heart to the Lord and my whole entire life has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron-Brown said the graduates will go through six more months of \u201csupervised release\u201d from the drug court program until they are completely finished with the program. She said there are 19 people in Putnam\u2019s adult drug court program, including the graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are 24 adult drug court programs in West Virginia serving 40 counties, and 16 juvenile drug court programs serving 20 counties with 581 people actively participating in the programs,\u00a0the Daily Mail reported<\/a><\/span>\u00a0earlier this month. As part of the Justice Reinvestment Act, which was passed last year, adult drug courts will be in all of West Virginia\u2019s counties by July 1 of next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact writer Marcus Constantino at 304-348-1796 or\u00a0marcus.c@dailymailwv.com<\/a><\/span>. Follow him at\u00a0www.twitter.com\/amtino<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/www.charlestondailymail.com\/article\/20150226\/DM01\/150229485\/1276#sthash.TzJh3TEA.dpuf<\/a> 26th<\/sup> Feb. 2015<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Joeseph K. Reeder and Putnam County Adult Drug Court Probation Officer LaKeisha Barron-Brown applaud the accomplishment\/graduation of Stacy Casto Wednesday at the Putnam County Judicial Building in Winfield. Casto was quoted by Judge Reeder as she was being introduced saying, “Judge, I’m\u00a0gonna graduate and I want my picture in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,21,27,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-sector","category-education-sector-papers","category-social-affairs-papers","category-treatment-addiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}