Steele/Waseca Drug Court celebrates a decade of offering an alternative for recovering addicts

After a decade filled with remarkable, heartwarming success stories, the participants, prosecutors, judges and staff involved with the Steele-Waseca Drug Court say the verdict is in: the program has proven a resounding success.

Last week, the Drug Court celebrated its 10-year anniversary, with judges Joseph Beutel and Carol Hanks, Drug Court Administrator Nicole Grams and program participants all speaking in front of a packed courtroom to celebrate the powerful changes the program has brought.

Grams, who has worked in the Waseca County probation office for the last 24 years, said that the voluntary program has clearly met and even exceeded the expectations set for it when she helped to launch it alongside Judge Beutel and others back in 2014.

For every dollar spent on Drug Court, Grams says that Steele and Waseca Counties have saved more than $3, thanks to savings from lowered recidivism, reduced jail days and a large number of participants who have been transformed into productive members of society.

During the early years of the program, Waseca County Attorney Rachel Cornelius said that employers needed encouragement and reassurance to consider hiring drug court participants and graduates, given their often extensive criminal histories.

Now, Cornelius said that many employers who did hire drug court participants or graduates have come to view them as among their strongest and most reliable employees. With regular drug testing and robust support, they know program participants will either stay on a sober path or face swift consequences.

Much to her disappointment, Grams reported that the number of people attending the Drug Court has dipped in recent years. She cited the pandemic as a challenge, saying that declines in the jail population had given fewer people that push they needed to attend drug court.

“Our captive audience is when somebody is arrested and put in jail, and I get a referral to talk to them,” Grams said. “When someone is summoned to come to court by mail, their addiction isn’t being interrupted so there’s less of a pull.”

In Waseca County, Cornelius said that the number of people attending Drug Court has stayed relatively steady over the last number of years, and indeed over the course of the program, at about 10-15 people, even as Steele County has seen its numbers drop.

By providing mentorship opportunities, and guidance towards a path to healthy and sober living, advocates and participants say the compassionate approach taken by Drug Courts is restoring their faith in the justice system, and in themselves to be able to live responsible lives.

Of the program’s 108 graduates, 74% have seen no additional criminal convictions, and the number of days spent in jail has dropped by over 90%. Yet while the data may be striking, Grams says it’s the stories of remarkable personal transformation that define Drug Court.

Recently, Grams attended a celebration of life ceremony for a program graduate who recently passed away of cancer. Grams said that multiple people rose to speak at the funeral about what a difference the Drug Court graduate had made during the sober last five years of her life.

Grams said that, not only did this program participant successfully rebuild her own life, but helped to inspire and guide others on their sober journeys. She said that is quite common within Drug Court, as participants support each other and enjoy sober fun activities together.

For many drug court participants, entry into the program comes as a last-ditch effort to redeem their lives, after years of wallowing in their addictions and facing numerous criminal charges and convictions related either directly or indirectly to their drug use.

Cornelius said that by the time many individuals bring themselves to enter drug court, their relationships with family members have been all but severed, after years of stealing from them, lying to them and manipulating them to help feed the addictions.

After attending drug court, Cornelius said that many graduates have been able to repair those heavily damaged relationships, becoming once again the kind of people that loved ones feel comfortable inviting to family functions.

“So many people have thanked me for the program, for all of the hard work that has gone into helping these (program participants),” Cornelius said.