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Washington County drug court achieves recognition from the state

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Dana Keller grew up in a family that she said was “polluted with alcoholism and addiction. I was living on the streets and I was unemployable. I was in and out of jail over 20 times. I was pregnant in jail and I was in there for every holiday and birthday at least twice.”

Admitting that public speaking was not her preferred method of communicating, she took a deep breath before she told a ballroom full of people that, because she participated in Washington County’s drug court, she’s now working, she’s a role model for her daughter and she can buy the child’s school clothes and afford vacations.

Keller’s was one of four testimonials to the effectiveness of what’s known in Washington County as the Washington County Restrictive Treatment Program, in place since 2004 but newly accredited by the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts. A ceremony was held Tuesday to celebrate the achievement.

Since its first graduation ceremony – in the same ballroom at the George Washington hotel, according to former assistant public defender Brian Gorman – more than 350 people charged with crimes have participated in the program.

Those gathered also heard from other drug court participants. Dan Bradwell said he started drinking alcohol at age 8, and was later expelled from school just shy of receiving a diploma. Thelma Turner, 55, a former resident of Fayette County, said there was no drug court in her home community. Neither was there one in Armstrong County, where Ashley Potts was charged in two felony cases and several misdemeanors.

“Washington County is where I got clean, where I work and where I learned how to be a professional,” said Potts, who went for a master’s degree instead of heading to a penitentiary.

P. Karen Blackburn, program coordinator of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, called the concept that came to the rescue of nonviolent offenders “problem-solving courts,” noting that Pennsylvania has 114 of them. Along with drug courts, there are speciality courts for veterans, those charged with drunken driving and people who have been diagnosed with mental health conditions, for example. The rate of repeat offenses can be as high as 60 percent in the nation’s criminal justice system nationally, but specialty courts have a recidivism rate of about 25 percent.

“Accreditation is voluntary and not a rubber stamp,” Blackburn said. An evaluator visits a site for three to four days, and a committee reviews and scores each program without knowing from which county it originates.

Judge John DiSalle presides over the program, which employs two full-time probation officers and two full-time case managers.

Washington County President Judge Katherine B. Emery said after the ceremony she saw the accreditation as significant because “it recognizes the professionalism of this program, offering validation.” The president judge also said the court made changes in the program to improve it by meeting the state’s rigorous standards.

The accreditation was completed after the headline-grabbing episode involving former judge Paul Pozonsky, who was in charge of drug court until 2012. He later pleaded guilty to stealing cocaine that had been entered as evidence and served 30 days in jail and a year of probation.

A member of the state’s highest court also thanked the many people who have shaped the program in a positive fashion.

The daughter of a miner and a seamstress from Coaldale, Schuylkill County, Justice Christine Donohue, a graduate of Duquesne University law school, was elected to Superior Court in 2007 after nearly 30 years of practicing law in Allegheny County. She has been serving a 10-year term on the state Supreme Court since last year.

“The unfortunate thing about life is that we focus on the negative and sensational news,” Donohue said before presenting DiSalle, a former assistant district attorney, with a certificate of accreditation.

She said, “Today, let’s focus on the sensationally quiet work that drug court does. We save lives … We cannot incarcerate ourselves out of this problem.”

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