Programs like Allen Superior Court's drug court have a growing track record of success. And yet, funding is becoming harder to come by, while participants find themselves caught by the rising cost of living.
As Allen County’s drug court program hosted its 59th graduation ceremony at the beginning of December, Superior Court Judge Fran Gull prepared for her 24th year supervising the court. In that time, she’s seen people from all walks of life come through the court.
“Look at the people who are graduating. I mean, we’ve had doctors, lawyers, nurses, homeless," Gull said. "I mean, we’ve had all walks of life in our drug court program because addiction hits everybody.”
In Allen County’s drug court, the recidivism rate is about 28 percent, according to Gull, below the national average of more than 50 percent.
But a large factor in recovery can be stable housing. Many participants of drug courts come into the system homeless or without a stable place to stay.
“We've noticed that so many, a vast majority, of the folks that come into the program at the beginning are homeless," Gull said. "Getting them into this rehabilitative program and then releasing them back into that is not appropriate because we need to make sure that we are doing no harm.”
At the graduation ceremony, Gull announced a grant from the estate of Robert Schmoll, a retired magistrate in Allen County who passed away in May.
Schmoll was a longtime friend of drug court and had been a donor to the program during his life.
"He would always tell me ‘Franny, you’ve got one of the best rehabilitative programs in the state,'" Gull said.
Beginning his career in juvenile court, Schmoll served for decades as a magistrate in criminal court. Gull said this meant he would see a lot of repeat offenders come through juvenile into adult and eventually into drug court. After he retired, he would offer his time as a guest judge for drug court.
“And he was very focused on that aspect of drug court, that this was the last stop for a lot of people," she said.
The grant is coming to the court through Schmoll’s sister, Tracy Smith, who drove in from North Carolina for the December graduation.
“I was just blown away by it all," she said.
Smith said, when her brother passed away, the idea of giving part of the money he’d left behind to drug court just felt like the obvious choice.
“This would be a great way to honor him and help this program," she said.
Drug courts are a common problem-solving court around the country. They use the structure and authority of the court system to encourage sobriety and reduce recidivism.
When Smith approached Gull about the donation to the drug court fund, she asked the judge and Doug Ulmer, who heads up the drug court foundation, what needs they were seeing.
Gull said they had just had a client at that time who had come to them homeless. Following his recovery, he moved in with his sister, who had one of his dogs euthanized.
“He didn’t know what to do, he was gonna take off," she said. "He met with his case manager and told his case manager ‘I have to go get him, my other dog, because she’s gonna put him down and I’m just gonna leave. I’m gonna go.’”
His case manager and Judge Gull put his dog in a compassionate foster program while he returned to transitional housing for 30 days to save money.
“We've got first month’s rent, last month’s rent, security deposit, deposits on utilities," Gull said. "And it was at that point that we realized that we need a fund to help people get to that safe and sober living environment.”
That’s where the money from Schmoll comes in. Smith heard this story and knew it would be something her brother would have been happy to assist with.
“Making scholarships available to help these people get through those roadblocks,” she said.
Smith also wants to see it stretch even further.
Smith and Gull both spoke about rising childcare costs and how this money could help parents who are in recovery and working jobs to afford childcare.
Smith would also like to see a portion of it go toward supporting the drug court staff, a large group of case workers, resource personnel and courthouse employees, who help make drug court successful.
“This court system cares, I mean they truly, legitimately care," she said. "They’re not just processing people and then letting them go, they are supporting them even after their done.”
Smith is coming back to Fort Wayne in the next month to hear a full presentation on where the funds will go. Gull plans to have caseworkers who’ve worked with clients who would be supported by this grant to offer those clients’ perspectives.
