KENNEWICK, Wash. – A year ago, Benton County District Court added the Recovery Court to its list of Therapeutic Courts. Benton County invited the community down to celebrate its first year.
After only a year the court is making some positive strides. Benton County District Court Judge Jennifer Azure said she is excited about where the program is and where it’s going.
“This is something I’ve wanted to be involved with therapeutic courts for the last several years,” said Azure.
According to Judge Azure, therapy courts like the recovery court work on a drug model. She said they work to the amount of people committing crimes repeatedly by holding them accountable and building support systems around them.
“I think having those supports in place, somebody that you can go to and say hey man I’m struggling,” she said. “I need some additional help or hey, I’m trying to get my G.E.D. Do you have any ideas? I hope that we provide that additional support.”
Ryan Washburn, Therapeutic Courts Coordinator said the recovery court fills a gap that the others like the Mental Health Court, and Veterans Court can’t.
According to the Benton County District Court, to get in the program you need to be referred and screened for eligibility.
To be eligible, a defendant must be charged with a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor and have been diagnosed with substance abuse disorder.
“There’s been an uptick in drug-related charges that are resulting in misdemeanor level charges,” Washburn said. “That’s why we opted to go with a recovery court.”
Azure said after a year she’s seen successes with the court.
“We have lots of people that are working really hard,” said Azure. “28 people are in the program but that doesn’t include their families, their kids. We provide a lot of volunteer hours for the community. I think there are a lot of people hopefully benefitting from that as well.”
According to Azure celebrating a year is big for the court but the biggest congratulations go to the program participants.
“Many of the people in here are celebrating one year of recovery, one year of sobriety and that’s the big deal,” she said.
People who participate in Recovery Court are required to take part in substance abuse treatment, and mental health counseling if needed and attend regular court appearances. The participants are also monitored closely for program compliance since the program is voluntary.
