An addict no more, says Cassopolis woman

CASSOPOLIS -- At one point, she was so strung out on meth, says Britia Anderson, that she had no hope for the future.

"I got to the point where I thought an addict is all I'm ever going to be," the Cassopolis woman said.

What a difference a Cass County Family Treatment Court program can make. At least, it can when participants such as Anderson apply themselves to get past their addictions.

A function of Cass Probate Judge Sue Dobrich's 43rd Circuit Family Dependency Court, the program combines rigorous treatment and accountability to compel and support longtime drug users -- her drug use began in her teens, the 31-year-old Anderson said -- to change their lives.

The program is effective, Dobrich said, but also limited as far as participants only because there's only so much federal grant money to go around.

"We'd like to be able to do it for every parent because it works," she said.

As for why it works, Dobrich said, parents in the program, like Anderson, often have lost custody of their children and know that their only chance of regaining them is to complete the program.

"That's a pretty big hammer," Dobrich said.

In Anderson's case, she was one of 18 people who identified meth, one of the most addictive of drugs, as their drug of choice. Anderson and 13 others in the group completed the program for a 78 percent success rate.

Dobrich and Barbara Howes, the program coordinator, said it was Anderson's intelligence coupled with her motivation that drove her to succeed.

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An addict no more, says Cassopolis woman