Leonardtown, MD — The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County have approved a grant application to the state that would add a third alternative for the courts to incarceration. The grant would not only provide funding for the next fiscal year for the existing Adult Recovery and Juvenile Drug courts, but also add a new Family Recovery Court (FRC).
The total amount of funding requested from the Office of Problem Solving Courts is $329,813. The county funds an additional $77,928 for the coordinator for the alternate programs.
The commissioners made the unanimous decision to request the grant after a presentation March 17 by Administrative Judge Karen Abrams, Program Coordinator Pete Cuccinotta and Family Service Coordinator Linda Grove in the office of Juvenile Master Judge F. Michael Harris.
Grove explained that the new court would deal with problems that arise out of substance abuse or mental health issues. She said typical cases would involve CINA (Child in Need of Assistance) or family law, such as custody or divorce.
According to the grant application, FRC would handle persons in the following stages in the court process:
• Pre-Disposition — at the CINA Shelter Care Petition Hearing or a Preliminary Hearing on a non-emergency petition.
• Disposition – as part of the CINA petition.
• Post-Disposition – Up to six months after CINA disposition on a case by case basis.
• Family Court Order in a family law matter – by Court Order in a high risk family law case not involved in the CINA process.
The court defines high risk family as one of the following:
• Family that has one or more parents that have a substance abuse problem and/or addiction problems
• Family that has one or more parents that have a mental health concern that prevents them from providing ordinary and proper care of the children.
• Family that may have underlying causes that result in parental behaviors that lead to sexual abuse, physical abuse and/or neglect in caring of the minor children.
Judge Abrams said the goal in CINA cases is to reunite the child with the parent(s). It is hoped the new FRC would help parents with their addiction, mental health or parenting issues so they can be reunited with their children, Abrams said. But if that isn’t possible the child would be put up for adoption, she added.
The application projects 10-15 participants in the first year. The other two courts have been cited by the commissioners as being successful. Commissioner Tom Jarboe [R – 1st District] observed that the application showed that the Adult Recovery Court had almost as many clients in the first half of this fiscal year (46) as all of the previous year (52).
Cuccinotta said there is more demand than the program is able to provide. He said they could easily double the numbers handled but they are limited by the court “infrastructure.” He said that is being reviewed to see if it can be resolved.
Commissioner Todd Morgan [R – 4th District], noting problems with enticing counselors into the county in the past to treat the alternative program clients, asked what the current counseling status was. Abrams said the existing provider of general; substance abuse counseling, Outlook Recovery, was ending those services but would continue to do methadone treatment. She said a new group with experience in Calvert and Anne Arundel, called Step into Recovery, would take up the slack after a two-week void.
Cuccinotta said he did outreach to the new counseling service to ask them to come into the county.
The Adult Recovery and Juvenile Drug courts have their own steering committees made up of court and agency representatives along with private citizens. The new FRC would have its own steering committee.
Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com