Kenosha County Treatment Court
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What is Kenosha County Treatment Court?
The Kenosha County Treatment Court is an intervention program for adults who have pled guilty to one or more crimes related to their severe and persistent mental illness and/or drug or alcohol addiction and are having difficulty stabilizing in their recovery. Treatment intervention is structured around the authority and personal involvement of the Treatment Court Judge and the Team of Treatment Court Professionals, of which NAMI Kenosha County is a member. By working together, they seek to provide a variety of programs and supervision that support and help maintain a stable life free from illegal drugs and alcohol. Originally established in 2013 as the Behavioral Health Treatment Court, the goal was to stabilize people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in order to keep them from returning to the criminal court system. Service providers affiliated with the program help participants receive therapy, medications, housing and employment as appropriate. Kenosha County Treatment Court enhances public safety and personal recovery by providing intensive supervision, evidenced based treatment, and cost-effective services to convicted nonviolent adult offenders who endure severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorder. Kenosha’s Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court originally began in 2009 when the first Drug Court participant was accepted on August 19, 2009. In January of 2017 the Kenosha County Drug and Alcohol Treatment court absorbed the Behavioral Health Treatment Court and was renamed simply The Kenosha County Treatment Court, a seamless transition. The Treatment Court program is not just about medical treatment. It is also about establishing a good support system and mentoring individuals on skills they need to stay well, and to become organized and independent. It helps participants develop life skills and a routine that they can maintain which includes therapy, medications, safe and secure housing and employment. The goal is to transform the individual into a productive member of our community. How does the program work? Initially a defendant must attend court on a weekly basis. Over time this frequency can reduce to twice per month and then once per month. During this time, a defendant must meet with their probation officer, a program coordinator, attend treatment, take drug tests, and perform assigned tasks like seeking housing and/or employment. If a participant in the program is unemployed, they will be assigned to work crew or community service. Drug and Alcohol testing is a major component of the program. Any drug or alcohol addictions are treated as a co-occurring disorder. Who is Eligible? Individuals with a history of criminal convictions and a severe and persistent mental illness, which contributes to why he or she is in court. These defendants have demonstrated that they are of high risk and high needs. Eligible participants are identified through screenings and must be diagnosed with a moderate to severe substance abuse disorder and/or significant behavioral health diagnosis. To be accepted, individuals must be willing to abide by the Treatment Court program rules. Once they are accepted into the program, they are placed on probation with the specifically trained probation agent and develop a treatment plan that is created by the whole team: their agent, the Judge, Court Coordinator, Treatment professionals, and case workers, with regular status hearings in front of the Judge. How can a defendant join the program? The program operates on a referral system. Individuals are recommended for the program by others (such as attorneys and probation officers), but this does not always mean automatic acceptance into the program. Once accepted by the program, the defendant is assigned a case manager to help them navigate the program services and requirements. Who manages the program? Judge Jodi L. Meier oversees the program and determines if participants are meeting their goals and what consequences they may receive. When goals are met, incentives are provided like gas station gifts cards. If goals aren’t met, participants receive consequences like community sanctions or jail time. Jodi L. Meier is a judge for the Kenosha County Circuit Court, presiding over Branch 7. She was appointed to the bench in July 2016 and elected in 2017 to a 6-year term. Judge Meier received her undergraduate degree from Marquette University in 1988 and her J.D. from Marquette University Law School in 1991. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Meier was an attorney in private practice since 1991, predominantly practicing in the criminal and family courts. She was a Guardian ad Litem for Kenosha County since 2005 representing children and vulnerable adults in the court system. In 2015, Judge Meier was appointed a Court Commissioner by Judge Chad Kerkman. Drug and Alcohol testing is a major component of the program. Any drug or alcohol addictions are treated as a co-occurring disorder. |
Kenosha County
Treatment Court Mission Statement To enhance public safety and personal recovery, as well as participant accountability by providing intensive supervision, evidence-based treatment and cost effective services to convicted individuals who live with mental health and/or substance use disorders with the goal of reducing recidivism thereby increasing quality of life for the citizens of Kenosha County. For more information please contact: Brian Bynsdorp Treatment Court Coordinator Oakwood Clinical Associates 4109 67th Street Kenosha, WI 53142 (262)652-9830 brian.bynsdorp@kenoshacounty.org Stephanie Prasser Assistant District Attorney Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office Molinaro Building 912 56th Street Kenosha, WI 53140 (262) 653-2483 Stephanie.Prasser@da.wi.gov Additional Information in the Treatment Court Brochure below. 
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Kenosha County Treatment Court Special Guest Vin Baker
Aug 28, 2019
Former Milwaukee Bucks star player and current assistant coach Vin Baker today brought his story of triumph over substance abuse to Kenosha County’s Treatment Court.
He also provided autographed copies of his book for everyone: "God and Starbucks: An NBA Superstar's Journey Through Addiction and Recovery". NAMI Kenosha County is proud to be a member of and support Kenosha County Treatment Court.
Visit the Treatment Court Page to learn more.
Link To the video on Youtube: youtu.be/k4nvcVelCs4
Aug 28, 2019
Former Milwaukee Bucks star player and current assistant coach Vin Baker today brought his story of triumph over substance abuse to Kenosha County’s Treatment Court.
He also provided autographed copies of his book for everyone: "God and Starbucks: An NBA Superstar's Journey Through Addiction and Recovery". NAMI Kenosha County is proud to be a member of and support Kenosha County Treatment Court.
Visit the Treatment Court Page to learn more.
Link To the video on Youtube: youtu.be/k4nvcVelCs4
A Court of Refuge: Stories From The Bench Of America's First Mental Health Court by Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren
The story of America’s first Mental Health Court as told by its presiding judge, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren – from its inception in 1997 to its implementation in over 400 courts across the nation.
As a young lawyer, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren bore witness to the consequences of an underdeveloped mental health care infrastructure. Unable to do more than offer guidance, she watched families being torn apart as client after client was ensnared in the criminal justice system for crimes committed as a result of addiction, homelessness, and severe mental illness.
In A Court of Refuge, Judge Lerner-Wren tells the story of how the court grew from an offshoot of her criminal division without the aid of any federal funding, to a revolutionary institution that has successfully diverted more than 20,000 people with serious mental illness from jail and into treatment facilities and other community resources. Working under the theoretical framework of therapeutic jurisprudence, Judge Wren and her growing network of fierce, determined advocates, families, and supporters sparked a national movement of using courts as a place of healing.
Poignant and sharp, Lerner-Wren demonstrates that though mental health courts offer some relief in under-served communities, they can only serve as a single piece of a new focus on the vast overhaul of the policies that got us here. Lerner-Wren crafts a refreshing possibility for a future where our legal system and mental health infrastructure work in step to decriminalize rather than stigmatize.
The story of America’s first Mental Health Court as told by its presiding judge, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren – from its inception in 1997 to its implementation in over 400 courts across the nation.
As a young lawyer, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren bore witness to the consequences of an underdeveloped mental health care infrastructure. Unable to do more than offer guidance, she watched families being torn apart as client after client was ensnared in the criminal justice system for crimes committed as a result of addiction, homelessness, and severe mental illness.
In A Court of Refuge, Judge Lerner-Wren tells the story of how the court grew from an offshoot of her criminal division without the aid of any federal funding, to a revolutionary institution that has successfully diverted more than 20,000 people with serious mental illness from jail and into treatment facilities and other community resources. Working under the theoretical framework of therapeutic jurisprudence, Judge Wren and her growing network of fierce, determined advocates, families, and supporters sparked a national movement of using courts as a place of healing.
Poignant and sharp, Lerner-Wren demonstrates that though mental health courts offer some relief in under-served communities, they can only serve as a single piece of a new focus on the vast overhaul of the policies that got us here. Lerner-Wren crafts a refreshing possibility for a future where our legal system and mental health infrastructure work in step to decriminalize rather than stigmatize.
Treatment court graduation recognizes the effort to overcome addiction
Deneen Smith Dec 7, 2019 Kenosha News
When the judge called Detective Jeff Bliss to the front of the courtroom, Katie Erickson looked over at her friends and whispered, “that’s who arrested me.”
This meeting was a much different from the last day Erickson and Bliss met in April 2017. Then, Erickson was a 26-year-old heroin user stealing to support her habit. Now, Erickson was two years clean, graduating from drug treatment court, the mother of a healthy baby girl and a mentor to people in the program. “Katie appears to be sincere in learning how to do things differently, not just checking off the box,” said Judge Jodi Meier. She said Erickson had become a role model and support for 18 iother people in the county’s Drug Treatment Court program, several of whom cried as Erickson was handed her diploma in graduation ceremonies Wednesday. Kenosha County has had the treatment court program since 2009. It offers people who have an addiction or persistent mental illness contributing to criminal activity an alternative to jail.
The program includes therapy, drug treatment, frequent court appearances and drug testing, with people spending at least 18 months under supervision of the court. It’s a tough list of requirements, and those who fail return to the criminal court system.
Getting help, working at it
Advertisement (1 of 1): 0:30Erickson said when she was in jail, she heard from other people that no one succeeded in the program, that no one ever graduated. She herself stumbled when she began, and got help through the court to enter a 90-day inpatient treatment program in 2018, followed by “moral reconation therapy” along with other individual and group therapy. Over the last 13 months, she took 198 court-required urinalysis tests without a single violation, Meier said.
“When I started in the program, like the judge said, I wasn’t ready. It took a lot of work and a lot of support to get here, and I really love all of you guys,” Erickson told the court. “This team didn’t give up on me when I genuinely thought that they would. They just saw I needed extra help.” Bliss said he came to the graduation ceremony at the request of Meier.
He said when he received the invitation he did not know what to expect. He said did not remember Erickson’s case and had to look up the case file. When he completes a case, he told the group, he moves on and often forgets about the people he arrests. “Sitting here today made me think about the struggle everyone here is going through to the point that they meet me,” Bliss told Erickson and the treatment court participants sitting in the jury box. “For me, it’s just a job. For you, it’s your worst day.” The detective said that listening to the participants in the court — who were called up by the judge one at a time to talk about what they were working on their lives, from work schedules to family visits to paying the price for rule violations, to the work Erickson had done to graduate — also made him think about how hard it is for people to turn their lives around. “It’s almost three years since I arrested you,’ he told Erickson. “The struggle and work it took to get here today, it’s amazing.”
Grateful for the program
Erickson said she is grateful for the program, and plans to continue to try to support people in the system. “This program works,” she said. She said she hopes her success offers hope to other people who are struggling with addiction.
And she hopes that people who are mired in addiction, stuck in the criminal justice system and feeling hopeless see her story and know that recovery is possible. While she had no idea that Meier had invited Bliss to come to her graduation, she and her fellow court participants were glad he was there. “It means a lot when people who are in that field get to see their job come full circle,” she said. “I’m not just a number, and I’m not a lost cause.”
Deneen Smith Dec 7, 2019 Kenosha News
When the judge called Detective Jeff Bliss to the front of the courtroom, Katie Erickson looked over at her friends and whispered, “that’s who arrested me.”
This meeting was a much different from the last day Erickson and Bliss met in April 2017. Then, Erickson was a 26-year-old heroin user stealing to support her habit. Now, Erickson was two years clean, graduating from drug treatment court, the mother of a healthy baby girl and a mentor to people in the program. “Katie appears to be sincere in learning how to do things differently, not just checking off the box,” said Judge Jodi Meier. She said Erickson had become a role model and support for 18 iother people in the county’s Drug Treatment Court program, several of whom cried as Erickson was handed her diploma in graduation ceremonies Wednesday. Kenosha County has had the treatment court program since 2009. It offers people who have an addiction or persistent mental illness contributing to criminal activity an alternative to jail.
The program includes therapy, drug treatment, frequent court appearances and drug testing, with people spending at least 18 months under supervision of the court. It’s a tough list of requirements, and those who fail return to the criminal court system.
Getting help, working at it
Advertisement (1 of 1): 0:30Erickson said when she was in jail, she heard from other people that no one succeeded in the program, that no one ever graduated. She herself stumbled when she began, and got help through the court to enter a 90-day inpatient treatment program in 2018, followed by “moral reconation therapy” along with other individual and group therapy. Over the last 13 months, she took 198 court-required urinalysis tests without a single violation, Meier said.
“When I started in the program, like the judge said, I wasn’t ready. It took a lot of work and a lot of support to get here, and I really love all of you guys,” Erickson told the court. “This team didn’t give up on me when I genuinely thought that they would. They just saw I needed extra help.” Bliss said he came to the graduation ceremony at the request of Meier.
He said when he received the invitation he did not know what to expect. He said did not remember Erickson’s case and had to look up the case file. When he completes a case, he told the group, he moves on and often forgets about the people he arrests. “Sitting here today made me think about the struggle everyone here is going through to the point that they meet me,” Bliss told Erickson and the treatment court participants sitting in the jury box. “For me, it’s just a job. For you, it’s your worst day.” The detective said that listening to the participants in the court — who were called up by the judge one at a time to talk about what they were working on their lives, from work schedules to family visits to paying the price for rule violations, to the work Erickson had done to graduate — also made him think about how hard it is for people to turn their lives around. “It’s almost three years since I arrested you,’ he told Erickson. “The struggle and work it took to get here today, it’s amazing.”
Grateful for the program
Erickson said she is grateful for the program, and plans to continue to try to support people in the system. “This program works,” she said. She said she hopes her success offers hope to other people who are struggling with addiction.
And she hopes that people who are mired in addiction, stuck in the criminal justice system and feeling hopeless see her story and know that recovery is possible. While she had no idea that Meier had invited Bliss to come to her graduation, she and her fellow court participants were glad he was there. “It means a lot when people who are in that field get to see their job come full circle,” she said. “I’m not just a number, and I’m not a lost cause.”
Learning to be honest with herself, treatment court graduate strives to help others
By TERRY FLORES tflores@kenoshanews.com Feb 27, 2019
Jaime Rightmire knew that the lies she told could eventually lead to her death. But she didn’t know how to stop her path to destruction, one in which she found herself entangled in addiction to Xanax and making bad decisions that first landed her prison in 2015 for felony uttering — in her case, issuing worthless checks to buy real estate. Two years later she was set to return after being convicted of movable theft after taking a vehicle from a local dealership not long after she was released from prison. While faced with the possibility of doing seven years in prison, her attorney Ben Schwarz recommended her for Kenosha County’s Drug Treatment Court and a chance at a new start.
On Wednesday, her new start was validated as she graduated from the intensive program for nonviolent offenders during a ceremony before Circuit Court Judge Jodi Meier, treatment facilitators, family, friends and others who are still going through treatment.
The court-monitored treatment program includes counseling, drug testing and a team of professionals who oversee their recovery individually and in the courtroom itself, where they report on their progress and setbacks.
Rightmire had her setbacks. She had to admit that from the get-go, otherwise she wouldn’t make it, she said.
“Well, I thought this was going to be something I could fake my way through. I didn’t think I was going to have to do much except basically go to these meetings and these groups and tell as little as possible,” she said. “I thought Moral Reconation Therapy was the biggest crock I’d ever heard of.”
But, she had a choice: give drug court treatment her all or have the judge sign her papers to go back to prison.
A long road to recovery
Rightmire said before her first conviction she was associating with the wrong people and while she was prescribed Xanax for anxiety she became addicted to the drug. She said she was lying and manipulating on a daily basis, but it wasn’t until she attempted suicide “and doing all the wrong things in life” that it landed her in prison.
Her addiction and lying led to heartache, disappointment and hurt toward those who loved her. Doing drugs, she said, was “no joke,” as she was stripped of her family, friends, her then-fiance and her self worth.
Having been in prison while an inmate committed suicide, and contemplating the damage she had caused to everyone in her life, she faced the reality of of losing herself.
“I lost how to love, care and be affectionate or just to be a good person,” she said.”I still struggle with some of those things.”
It took a meeting with her treatment provider with a message she didn’t want to hear.
“It was then I realized I needed to change and I had to be open, honest and use coping skills instead of using drugs to numb my feelings and talk about what’s bothering me,” she said. “And I had to learn to reach out for help instead of ... pushing people away.”
A year and half later, she said, she has learned to trust people, especially those who have helped to facilitate her recovery.
“I’ve accomplished a lot in treatment court. The main thing is honesty, not to lie. It’s OK not to have all the answers,” she said. “I learned how to rebuild good, strong healthy relationships with my family, friends and loved ones to have their support and encouragement to help.”
Praised for her efforts
During the ceremony, Meier praised Rightmire for her persistence.
As she continued to progress, she became engaged, and started her own business, the Franksville-based JDR Diesel Performance and Enhancements. She became a Self-Management and Recovery Training facilitator.
In addition, she’s featured in a recovery video for Rogers Memorial Hospital and was the first in her recovery groups to offer NARCAN training.
She will be attending school in the summer, was recently accepted in certified peer-support specialist training and will be assisting in facilitating treatment court participant support meetings.
Meier said, while Rightmire has had her struggles, it was her learning to be honest, especially with herself, that she started blossom.
“And, here she is and we’re so proud of her. She has come so far and I know in the very beginning she didn’t have the confidence. She had an edge and here she is facilitating SMART recovery groups and doing all this stuff. It’s just night and day from when she started to today. There’s no stopping her.”
To her peers who are still going through the treatment program, Rightmire said honesty is something that can’t be faked.
“You can’t tell the bare minimum. You have to be 100 percent honest, no matter what,” she said. “Believe me, lying only gets you jail time here. So be honest with the entire team or you won’t make it. That is what I do now.”
By TERRY FLORES tflores@kenoshanews.com Feb 27, 2019
Jaime Rightmire knew that the lies she told could eventually lead to her death. But she didn’t know how to stop her path to destruction, one in which she found herself entangled in addiction to Xanax and making bad decisions that first landed her prison in 2015 for felony uttering — in her case, issuing worthless checks to buy real estate. Two years later she was set to return after being convicted of movable theft after taking a vehicle from a local dealership not long after she was released from prison. While faced with the possibility of doing seven years in prison, her attorney Ben Schwarz recommended her for Kenosha County’s Drug Treatment Court and a chance at a new start.
On Wednesday, her new start was validated as she graduated from the intensive program for nonviolent offenders during a ceremony before Circuit Court Judge Jodi Meier, treatment facilitators, family, friends and others who are still going through treatment.
The court-monitored treatment program includes counseling, drug testing and a team of professionals who oversee their recovery individually and in the courtroom itself, where they report on their progress and setbacks.
Rightmire had her setbacks. She had to admit that from the get-go, otherwise she wouldn’t make it, she said.
“Well, I thought this was going to be something I could fake my way through. I didn’t think I was going to have to do much except basically go to these meetings and these groups and tell as little as possible,” she said. “I thought Moral Reconation Therapy was the biggest crock I’d ever heard of.”
But, she had a choice: give drug court treatment her all or have the judge sign her papers to go back to prison.
A long road to recovery
Rightmire said before her first conviction she was associating with the wrong people and while she was prescribed Xanax for anxiety she became addicted to the drug. She said she was lying and manipulating on a daily basis, but it wasn’t until she attempted suicide “and doing all the wrong things in life” that it landed her in prison.
Her addiction and lying led to heartache, disappointment and hurt toward those who loved her. Doing drugs, she said, was “no joke,” as she was stripped of her family, friends, her then-fiance and her self worth.
Having been in prison while an inmate committed suicide, and contemplating the damage she had caused to everyone in her life, she faced the reality of of losing herself.
“I lost how to love, care and be affectionate or just to be a good person,” she said.”I still struggle with some of those things.”
It took a meeting with her treatment provider with a message she didn’t want to hear.
“It was then I realized I needed to change and I had to be open, honest and use coping skills instead of using drugs to numb my feelings and talk about what’s bothering me,” she said. “And I had to learn to reach out for help instead of ... pushing people away.”
A year and half later, she said, she has learned to trust people, especially those who have helped to facilitate her recovery.
“I’ve accomplished a lot in treatment court. The main thing is honesty, not to lie. It’s OK not to have all the answers,” she said. “I learned how to rebuild good, strong healthy relationships with my family, friends and loved ones to have their support and encouragement to help.”
Praised for her efforts
During the ceremony, Meier praised Rightmire for her persistence.
As she continued to progress, she became engaged, and started her own business, the Franksville-based JDR Diesel Performance and Enhancements. She became a Self-Management and Recovery Training facilitator.
In addition, she’s featured in a recovery video for Rogers Memorial Hospital and was the first in her recovery groups to offer NARCAN training.
She will be attending school in the summer, was recently accepted in certified peer-support specialist training and will be assisting in facilitating treatment court participant support meetings.
Meier said, while Rightmire has had her struggles, it was her learning to be honest, especially with herself, that she started blossom.
“And, here she is and we’re so proud of her. She has come so far and I know in the very beginning she didn’t have the confidence. She had an edge and here she is facilitating SMART recovery groups and doing all this stuff. It’s just night and day from when she started to today. There’s no stopping her.”
To her peers who are still going through the treatment program, Rightmire said honesty is something that can’t be faked.
“You can’t tell the bare minimum. You have to be 100 percent honest, no matter what,” she said. “Believe me, lying only gets you jail time here. So be honest with the entire team or you won’t make it. That is what I do now.”
| kenosha_county_behavioral_health_courts_spring_2014.pdf |
