(TUESDAY, Sept. 16) – The Rutland Drug Court Initiative will receive $499,966 in the form of a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant to help implement drug courts in Rutland County, Vermont’s U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Jim Jeffords announced Tuesday.
 

The Rutland Drug Court Initiative Committee was created more than a year ago by state, court and county officials to combat Rutland County’s drug abuse problem, which has burdened the state’s criminal justice and public health systems over the last several years.  The DOJ funds, coming from the Adult Drug Court Implementation Grant Program, will be used to implement Rutland’s drug courts plan – the first of its kind in Vermont – helping to target drug abuse by giving eligible offenders an opportunity to treat their addiction and stay out of prison.  According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, Vermont and New Hampshire are the only states currently without an operating drug court program.

Drug courts allow eligible offenders substance abuse treatment, continuous supervision through random drug testing, regular contact with the drug court judge, and other services administered by the drug court or the offender’s counselor, such as affordable housing, help finding a job or child care.  The funds will be administered through the Vermont Supreme Court and the Rutland District Court.
 

Leahy and Jeffords, who have both been involved with community and state leaders, law enforcement and treatment officials working to combat the drug abuse problems, in May wrote letters of support to Attorney General John Ashcroft urging the Justice Department to approve Rutland’s request.
 

"The Rutland County Drug Court is a promising model for tackling the complex issues of drug abuse. I applaud the efforts of everyone in the Rutland community and around the state who helped make this a reality. Unfortunately, Vermont is not immune to these problems, and I am grateful that the federal government has recognized that," Jeffords said.
 

“A decade ago it was unthinkable that our rural and close-knit communities could be so devastated by illegal drugs, ranging up to heroin,” said Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has authority over the Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies.  In February 2001, Leahy convened a town meeting on heroin and drug abuse in Rutland, which helped focus efforts on solutions like the drug court.  “The people of Rutland and local officials have mobilized to fight this plague.  Rutland’s mayor and police officials, state agencies and the courts have acted to reverse this trend.  This grant will give Rutland another tool that will help get drugs out of our community and that will help those with addictions to turn their lives around and get back on their feet.”

Since 2001, Leahy has helped secure more than $12.5 million in Department of Justice funds to help Vermonters combat drug abuse, keep children off of drugs and treat drug abusers.  He also led in writing and working to enact the 2002 Department of Justice reauthorization bill, which extended the charter for the Adult Drug Court Implementation Grant Program.
 

Leahy Tuesday also announced two other Department of Justice grants aimed at anti-drug and substance abuse prevention to the Vermont Agency of Human Services and the Windsor Area Community Partnership.  The Vermont Agency of Human Services has received $653,000 through the Department of Justice’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program.  The funds will be used to keep children out of jail through innovative programming statewide.  The State of Vermont’s Agency of Human Services Planning Division has received $1,705,400 in Department of Justice funding this year alone.
 

The Windsor Area Community Partnership , which serves Windsor, Brownsville, Weathersfield and Hartland, has received a $100,000 grant through the DOJ’s Drug-Free Communities Support Program for the second year in a row.  Last year, the Partnership received $100,000 to implement a program to decrease the risk of substance abuse and to reduce substance abuse among Vermont’s teens.  This year’s funds will be used to organize mentoring programs, target 5^th-8^th graders, organize grassroots development and provide substance abuse prevention education to high school seniors. 
  

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