Two years and 4 days ago, Joseph Wittenbrink entered the Jackson County drug court program. On Thursday he was back in front of Judge Christy Solverson in courtroom 3 to celebrate his graduation from drug court with his team surrounding him.
Joseph is the fifth graduate of the drug court since it began three years ago. The program is built on five phases that take two years to complete. The goal is to divert people with drug offenses from prison so that they can get the treatment, education, and support needed to end that drug use.
Jackson County Probation officer Ashley Rowald leads the program, "These participants have to call in to me every day that our office is open. They call every morning by nine to find out if they're going to report or not. Usually in the early phases, they can come in usually a minimum of three times a week. If they're struggling, I'll have them come in five times a week to get those drug testing."
According to Rowald the participants aren’t in this process alone. It’s a team effort - made up of drug treatment professionals, law enforcement, the public defender’s office, the prosecutor’s office as well as Judge Steven Bost.
Rowald says each team member invests their time and specific expertise to help the participant be successful, "I am very proud of all of our participants. And again, like I said, I talk to them five days a week, so they do become like my extended family. I do keep in contact with a lot of them after they've graduated. And a lot of them feel comfortable coming and asking for help."
Joseph didn’t want to talk today, but he was all smiles when Judge Solverson handed him his graduation certificate
Judge Bost normally runs the drug court graduations. But though he was out sick. Judge Bost asked Judge Solverson to share a message with Joseph on this special day, "I know it wasn’t easy and I know it was incredibly isolating at times. But you bought in. You leaned into the process. And you are bearing the fruit of your efforts today."
And now, two years after entering the program, Joseph can lean on this team and their support to walk out of court a changed man back into the community.
