Judge John Trebets Talks Mental Health, Drug Courts at Neighboring Program

Judge John Trebets offered two reasons why he thought the county's drug and mental health courts were so important during at .

First, he said jail was not the most humane or effective way to deal with a person who has a mental health problem or a drug addiction.

"We shouldn't incarcerate a person because he has a mental health problem. We shouldn't incarcerate a person who has an addiction, if we can help it," he said.

Then he added that special dockets weren't just a matter of kindness. They helped the bottom line, also.

"Incarceration is seven times more expensive than rehabilitation," Trebets said. "Changes are in the air. We've been told to do more with less, so we have to be smart. We have to be innovative."

Special dockets in Lake County

The mental health docket started in 2004 in Mentor Municipal Court; the drug docket followed in 2010.

Their goals are identical. Instead of sending someone to jail, put them in probation and help them to help themselves.

The programs also have a lot in common:

• Participation must be voluntary. The process starts with an eligible person – Lake County resident; 18 or older; preferably a first-time offender, but never anyone with a drunk driving, sex or a felony case that cannot be reduced to a misdemeanor – pleading either guilty or no contest.

If the participant later decides they want out of the program, the judge can send them to jail

• The court helps the person get their life together. This can involve a lot of different parts, not the least of which is treatment. Just as every person with an addiction or mental health problem is different, so is the process for helping that person.

• The judge meets with the participants regularly and monitors their progress. If they are doing well, he can reward them with more freedom and fewer court appearances. If they aren't, he can sanction them with more supervision, jail time or even expel them from the program.
• The ultimate goal is to help the person live a drug-free, law-abiding life. This often involves a change in lifestyle, which takes time. Participation in the mental health court takes two years. Since the drug court started last year, only one person has completed the program so far.

One step forward, one step back

Forty-eight people have graduated from the mental health docket in the last seven years and Trebets shared some of the program's success stories Wednesday.

He talked about a woman the court encouraged to go to Lakeland Community College who has gone on to win poetry contests. The court helped another woman find the confidence to interact with the public.

But there have been times the court could not save a person, also.

Trebets recalled one man who was in the program and seemed to be improving. But then he fatally overdosed on his medication.

At the man's funeral, his mother still thanked the judge.

"Keep up what you're doing," she told Trebets. "You gave us our son back. We may have only had him for a year, but we didn't have him for 11 years before that."

Participants in the drug court are also susceptible to taking a step back. It's not uncommon for someone to relapse even if they are trying to get better, said Sue Radovanic, the probation supervisor for the drug court.

"You don't get clean and sober in six months or a year," Radovanic said. "It's a lifelong commitment."

In recent years, both the number of opiate addicts and opiate-related deaths have increased in Lake County. In response, the county has taken steps to curtail its abuse and the drug court is part of that.

Dennis Michaelson, an addiction treatment manager at Mentor Municipal Court and the Geauga County Jail Treatment Program, offered a third reason for the drug court's importance.

He said it was necessary to save people's lives.

Michaelson said that between his work in Lake and Geauga County, he has seen 32 opiate-related deaths in the last 24 months.

"Those are people who were in front of me who are dead," he said. "We can do better than that."