HANCOCK COUNTY — Drug court officials provided updates on their numbers to date and successes at the Hancock County Budget Committee meeting on February 7.
Judge Scott Sirk started the meeting by simply stating, “How do you value the cost of a human life?”
Sirk said that the drug court program has been able to save people from lives full of addiction. While the numbers of participants for each quarter fluctuate, Sirk said that they are currently on an upturn with 23 participants in the program.
Beth Ingle, coordinator for drug court, said that they were able to service 30 people in 2023. However, Ingle said that still does not meet their goal of 50 to 80 people.
Ingle said they were able to screen 824 people in 2022. In 2023, that number jumped up to 979 people. She said that they are mindful of the public and following best practices when looking at the screenings while also trying to get as many participants in quickly.
Many participants in the drug court program also come from donut counties. Of the 23 participants, only six are residents from Hancock County. Sirk said that while their goal originated with helping residents of Hancock County, they also want to help other individuals from close counties.
Jonathan Scott, a participant of the program, spoke to the board and shared his story of how he became involved with the drug court program. Scott said that, being in a family that had addiction generation after generation, he had a past of being in and out of the justice system and participating in programs that never worked.
“But with this approach that drug court has came at me with, it’s been a lot different. I feel like they care,” Scott said. “… They kind of gave me the tools for success where I can be a better person.”
Scott also said that while he has never known another life outside of drugs and criminal behavior, the tools they gave him have been able to help him achieve things he said he never imagined in his future, such as having a job, a car and a house.
“I felt I was dug so deep in a hole that there was no way out, so I just kept digging,” Scott said. “Drug court gave me a ladder to get out … They said, ‘You just gotta start taking these steps to get out of the hole.’ That’s what I’ve been doing and it’s working for me.”
With the $75,000 the county gave to support the program last year, Ingle said that only $53,415 was used, noting that she is frugal with the budget and “certain” that there will still be money leftover this year with their budget being approximately $150,000, which also includes the field officer’s salary.
County council member Kent Fisk asked at the meeting that, if they screen out certain people from participating and the number of participants is lower, would they want to make the “hard decision” of going back to the grant with more restrictions. Fisk also asked about the future amount of funding if the number of participants continues to increase.
In response to Fisk expressing his concerns, Sirk said they were having a hard time getting participants with the restrictive grant but, with the support of the county, they have much more opportunity to work with the public defender’s office to get more participants.
Sirk also said that they don’t anticipate getting beyond 35 participants for the next couple of years, which the current budget should cover. Sirk said if they were to get beyond that number of participants, they would come back to the council to discuss.
Ingle said that since the county has started supporting the program, she has received three grants and plans to apply for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant in April.
Ingle said she is proud to be a part of the program and loves to see the improvement once they start moving through the program.
“They hold themselves different once they have some sobriety behind them,” Ingle said. “They dress different, they talk different, they look into our eyes more when they talk, and to hear them express their accomplishments with pride, well it just makes me want to do more for them.”
