Webb County Family Drug Treatment Court First Graduation
Written by Post Public Information Representative, May 15, 2012, 0 Comments
Courtesy Larry Sanchez,
(Laredo, Tx)- What started out as a community based idea in the early fall of 2010 to assist families facing a specific challenge to insure their children’s safety has now come full circle from the planning stage to completion. On Tuesday May 15th the Webb County Family Drug Treatment Court will host its first graduation of families who have completed the requirements of the court’s program to graduate.
According to Alma Gomez, Program Director for Family Based Safety Services and one of the catalyst for the program, it took the efforts of the Webb County community to make the project come to fruition, as more than 100 community members joined together for the first planning meeting in August of 2010.
Locally, Judge Oscar Hale along with the Women’s Shelter, CASA, MHMR and Anna L. Cavazos Ramirez from the Webb County Attorney’s Office, along with many others has lent their support to the courts success. During the past year, the court received a sixteen thousand dollar grant to fund a court coordinator and assist in funding the project.
The Webb County drug court is based on other Texas drug courts in Bexar, Nueces and Travis counties, to name a few.
“The Bottom line is, the success of any drug court is dependent on the leadership of the judge. The judge sets the tone they have to be supportive, and at times firm. A judge has to have the ability to engage participants and keep them coming back each week. We are very lucky to have Judge Paul Gallego as he has really embraced this project” says Gomez.
The first set of parents will be graduating after having completed the program. However before entering the program, the parents had to meet certain criteria:
• Must sign the required “Release of Information” documents.
• Must have an open Conservatorship case with CPS.
• Must not have a conviction/pending charges of a violent act, such as injury to child/family member, and cannot have drug trafficking conviction.
• They must be over the age of 18.
• They cannot be diagnosed with a serious mental health disorder, such as Schizophrenia. Cases with mental health disorders will be assessed and admitted into the program on a case-by-case basis.
Today’s graduation is just the first as there are currently ten families participating in the FDTC program.
