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Washington County's Compass Drug Court has received final certification and a $500,000 federal grant.
Washington County Common Pleas Judge Mark Kerenyi, who oversees the program operated by Oriana House, said the federal grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance program will fund the drug court for the next three years.
"The drug court has been funded with (Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison) funds through the (Washington County) Behavioral Health Board, so now we have that money to divert to something else," he explained.
Kerenyi said the drug court contracts with Oriana House for counseling and drug tests. The grant will be used to fund the Compass program coordinator, case worker, drug tests, electronic monitoring and GPS costs, said Eric Brockmeier, Oriana House program manager for correctional programs. Treatment costs are paid through Medicaid or private insurance.
This is the first federal grant awarded to Compass.
The five phases of the drug court help people overcome drug and alcohol addictions so they can move past their felony convictions. The drug court team is made of Kerenyi, Compass staff, Adult Parole Authority officers, treatment providers, prosecutor and defense counsel, and community partners.
There have been five graduates of the minimum 14 month program. There is a limit of 30 spaces available, although the number may eventually expand, Kerenyi said.
Compass recently received certification through the Ohio Supreme Court.
Supreme Court certification requirements include establishing eligibility requirements, evaluating effectiveness of the specialized docket, and assembling a treatment team for implementing daily operations of the specialized docket.
"The Supreme Court has come up with standards because they don't want everybody kind of doing their own thing," Kerenyi explained. "It just shows that we've met their standards. We've always met their standards."
He said they've based their drug court on the standards since the court's start in January 2019.
"This just basically says that we're following a quality program that follows best practices," he said.
He noted the drug court meets standards from the National Drug Court Institute, which trained their treatment team.
"It's like a checks and balances system," said Carla Archer, Compass program coordinator. "So they provide standards, we're following them and we want to make sure that we're running the best court we can."
Brockmeier said being certified opens doors that may not have been available before.
"Through certification through the Supreme Court, it's going to open doors for other grant funding that requires your court to be certified to be eligible for funding," Brockmeier said.
Kerenyi said being part of the drug court has been rewarding as he can follow each person's rehabilitation and treatment on a weekly basis.
"I get to talk directly to them, which is unusual. One of the things about drug court is I can have these ex parte communications," he explained. "Typically, I only talk to defendants through their attorneys and it's always in a formal open court hearing."
He said with drug court, he can actually get to work with offenders and find out how they're progressing.
"The judicial interaction is one of the key components of the drug court," he said. "For me, it's incredibly rewarding to see the recovery and see the changes."
The community is a safer, better place because people are going through the drug court, he added.
"They're actually active community members and they're giving back," Archer said. "That's what's important. They learn skills to then help others."