Genesee County's specialty courts - part II

One of my favorite movie lines is from "The Shawshank Redemption" when Andy Dufresne tells his friend Red that "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

In Genesee County we have 11 sources of hope for criminal and family civil defendants, families, and society, in our specialty courts.

In each of these courts, the individuals who are selected have the opportunity to have a judge and support staff engage and require them to participate in treatment, drug and alcohol testing, counseling and other behavior changing disciplines which include regular court appearances.

In criminal cases, many of the successful defendants can have their cases dismissed or at least not go to jail or prison.

In the noncriminal cases, there can be a reunification of the family.

In Genesee County, six judges preside over the various specialty courts as follows:

(1) Judge Duncan Beagle presides over Truancy Court to deal with young students who don't go to school when they should and works with them and their families to improve attendance.

(2) There are four Drug Treatment Courts to treat substance abuse and recidivism. Judge Beagle presides over Family Dependency Court, Judge Mark Latchana over Adult Drug Court and Urban Initiative Drug Court, and Judge John Gadola over Juvenile Drug Court.

(3) Adult and Juvenile Mental Health Court deals with individuals in the criminal justice system with mental health issues. Veterans Court helps those who have served our country. Judge Jennifer Barkey presides over all of these.

(4) Infant and Toddler Treatment Court involves helping with parenting skills for neglected newborns to four year olds in Foster Care. Girls Court is a gender specific court that targets the commercial exploitation of adolescent females. Judge David Newblatt presides over both courts.

(5) Sobriety Court is for repeat drunk driving offenders to show them the path to sobriety. Judge Vikki Bayeh-Haley presides.

These courts have been shown to work and work well. Statistically Genesee County is a statewide leader in reducing recidivism for successful graduates. Of course, this is a plus for society.

Indeed, hope is a good thing as our specialty courts have proven.