Drug court helps break addiction’s bleak cycle

BRANDON — Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta often finds herself scanning the court docket to see who could be a candidate for the Westman drug treatment court.

“We have quite a revolving door in terms of substance abuse and addiction, criminal behaviour, incarceration and then the cycle repeats,” she said.

The drug treatment court aims to break that cycle.

“The best chance of long-term protection of the public is the rehabilitation of offenders, and at the end of the day, I think that’s what this is all about — trying to get down to those root causes of crime and hopefully, helping people break the cycle,” she said.

The drug treatment court, which started in 2019, has had 36 participants with an average of two graduations per year, a provincial courts spokesperson said.

Each Thursday, Hewitt-Michta presides over a drug treatment court docket in Brandon provincial court, where she speaks to each participant directly to see how they are progressing.

Anyone who is interested in the program can apply to their lawyer and be screened to determine whether they are eligible, the judge said.

That depends on factors such as the nature of their offence and whether it was the result of addiction.

She said there isn’t a list of eligible offences, but the program generally deals with non-violent crimes.

If the provincial Crown, federal Crown and drug treatment program staff determine someone is an appropriate fit and they are accepted into the program, there is a 30-day introductory period.

The participant will plead guilty to their charges, and if they are in custody, they will be released on a bail plan with a “long, comprehensive” list of conditions, Hewitt-Michta said.

After the introductory month, participants are asked if they want to opt into the program. If they do decide to go ahead with it, which Hewitt-Michta said most people do at this stage, they will move to the second phase, which is stabilization. She said this phase usually lasts at least six months.

The intensive Phase 3 includes more expectations, including specific programs, counselling, volunteering or looking for a job. The last phase is the maintenance phase in which the team starts to “take our hands off just a little bit” and reduce participants’ court appearances to every second week, the judge said.

On average, participants complete the program in 12 to 24 months. If the participant graduates, they will usually receive a community-based sentence, such as a period of probation, or their charges will be stayed.

“We’re really trying to reduce the reliance of the court on jail for non-violent offenders whose crimes are committed as a result of an addiction,” Hewitt-Michta said.

Katy Brydon has been the Westman drug treatment court case manager for about five years. Her job is to be “all up in” the participants’ business almost every day of the week, she said with a laugh.

“I build a really good relationship and rapport with them, because I mean I’ve even had clients in the past say, ‘You’re the only one I can trust and talk to,’” she said.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, she runs a psychoeducational group for the participants, which is focused on criminal and addictive thinking patterns, emotions, values and core beliefs. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, she runs a therapeutic group. On Fridays, she said she focuses on life skills, so the group might go on a hike or a walk. Sometimes people come in to help the participants learn about budgeting or sexual health.

Participants meet with her one-on-one up to five times per week to dig deeper into areas they need to work through.

Brydon makes sure they get to their appointments and grocery shopping, and ensures they do their drug screenings, which are three to five times per week.

“I think that support is absolutely vital for a person’s success,” she said. “I’ve gone to a client’s house and pulled them out of bed to make sure they get to group because I noticed that they’re starting to withdraw … I’m literally like a mom and worker all in one.”

Brydon said the program meets participants where they are and they don’t have to be sober to start.

“We definitely do harm reduction. Our goal is abstinence, so I just work with them on what that looks like for them,” she said.

When someone has been using substances for a long time, she said they can’t be expected to immediately quit.

She said the program has low recidivism rates. As per the last evaluation in 2022, there was a zero per cent recidivism rate for graduates and a 17 per cent recidivism rate for non-graduates in both the Westman and Winnipeg drug treatment court programs, a provincial courts spokesperson told the Brandon Sun.

Legal Aid lawyer Wendy Stewart represents the participants during their weekly court appearance on the drug treatment court docket.

She said it’s very easy for people to dismiss people with addictions and only see them as a “drug user.”

“With a program like this, you can really see how untrue that is. As the drug user recedes and the person kind of re-emerges, it’s just such a reminder every time that every one of these people … right within, there is somebody who, if you treated that illness, would have value,” she said.

Stewart said the program gives people a chance to treat the underlying issues rather than losing a period of their life to jail.

“I could send you to jail for two years as a drug addict, and two years from now, you’re still a drug addict,” she said.

Some suffer setbacks: 37 per cent of participants in the Winnipeg and Brandon programs don’t graduate.

Provincial court Chief Judge Ryan Rolston said judges often see vulnerable people with addictions in a cycle, and they often have mental health issues.

“Sometimes their use of substances, whether it be alcohol or drugs, leads to cognitive issues, and as a result of that cycle … (they’re) digging themselves into economic and legal issues, often going to jail, then being released and having to start over again,” he said.

Therapeutic courts, such as the drug treatment court and mental health court, are designed to “wrap services” around people in recognition that the traditional justice system doesn’t get them out of that cycle, Rolston said.

Winnipeg’s drug treatment court, which started in 2005, has had 530 participants, with an average of 10 graduates every year.

— Brandon Sun