DWI Drug Court program makes an impact

The Doa Ana County (DAC) Magistrate DWI Drug Court program is reaching out to repeat DWI offenders, and making a difference.

In 1994, Judge Oscar C. Frietze co-founded the nation's first DWI Drug Court program. As an alternative to incarceration, defendants who have been found guilty of second or third DWI offenses in the community are routinely referred to participate in the program. The program is a court-centered treatment program, which realizes a team approach and works collaboratively with various agencies, to provide for a safer community, rehabilitate offenders and reduce recidivism. Through the use of various forms of cognitive behavioral therapy, participants are taught to cope with high-risk situations and make decisions from higher levels of moral judgment.

"Drug courts work," said Priscilla Quiones, program coordinator and coalition partner with the Unified Prevention! (UP!) Coalition, an initiative of the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico. "They are very effective in helping people and changing lives."

The program offers intensive supervision, substance abuse counseling, random drug testing, DWI court review sessions, educational program referrals, family and parenting skills, case management services, employment and job development opportunities, community service opportunities, transitional care, gender and culturally sensitive programming, 12-step programming and assistance to health care.

The program targets second

"Many of these participants stay in the program because they find they want to get better and we can give them an opportunity to do so," Quiones said. "They know that probation is a privilege, not a right."

The target population is offenders 18 years of age or older with a significant criminal history and a significant substance dependency history. Other screening items include a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .15 percent or greater, no driver's license, a resident of the county and no prior violent offenses.

The treatment team includes Judges Frietze and Conrad Perea, Southwest Counseling, private defense attorneys, 3rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, DAC Health and Human Services (Compliance Division), Sheriff's Department and a surveillance officer (retired state police). Community partners include Doa Ana Community College, Interagency Council, Las Cruces Workforce Connection, YWCA El Paso Region and the Community Action Agency.

"We put these offenders through an intense screening process to target offenders most in need," Quiones said. "We are making a difference in reducing the possibility of future offenses as well as general life skills that positively affect all those around them."

A Community that's Aware is a Community that Cares is submitted by Charlotte Tallman, media campaign coordinator for the Unified Prevention! (UP!) Coalition for a Drug-Free Doa Ana County, an initiative of the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico. For more information on the coalition, visit http://www.unifiedprevention.com or contact Stephanie Armitage at (575) 521-4794 or stephanie@cfsnm.org.

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DWI Drug Court program makes an impact