Court gives meth addicts way out (Illinois)

BY OFELIA CASILLAS
Chicago Tribune

PITTSFIELD, Ill. - Janice Sidwell stood up and proudly told a Pike County Circuit Court judge that her children were finally home. Two rows of methamphetamine users applauded.
"Congratulations," Judge Michael Roseberry told her. "Good job."
Sidwell, 39, then grabbed a bag of Reese's Pieces from a candy bowl on the edge of the witness stand, a reward for her son and daughter.
Sidwell and the children's father had been busted twice for selling and using meth. They had served prison time and lost custody of the children.
And if the couple had remained in the criminal justice system, they would likely still be in prison today, part of a cycle of drug abuse and incarceration that is a common path.
Instead, with the help of prosecutors and a judge, they ended up in the Pike County, Ill., drug court - an administrative office that has become, for all intents and purposes, a meth court, devoted to alternative responses to methamphetamine crimes.
Like most drug courts, meth court is in some ways a kinder, gentler approach. For non-violent offenders the court offers a chance to avoid prison time and provides a much fuller safety net, directing addicts to drug counseling, mental health treatment, even parenting classes.
To address the long-lasting effects of methamphetamine and the tenacity of meth addiction, Pike County has gone a step further, with longer periods of supervision and exceptional levels of intervention.

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http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/14024319.htm