Drug court coordinator honored

Troy judge notes Hazard’s work during pandemic

The past 12 months have presented Bonnie Hazard with demands she never anticipated in counseling people in overcoming addiction as they made their way through the Troy Regional Treatment Court operated out of City Court.

“It’s been challenging,” said Hazard, the Troy treatment court coordinator who has worked in Capital Region treatment courts for nearly two decades.

Hazard found that the problems the treatment court anticipated in maintaining contact with clients during the coronavirus pandemic and helping them avoid slipping back into drug use could be overcome. The remote meetings conducted online and new program components, such as having participants write essays, proved to be more beneficial than expected.

“The problems I thought were difficult brought us closer together because we shared them during the pandemic,” Hazard said about the issues everyone has faced for the past year.

Hazard’s concern for her clients’ well-being and ability to adjust to keep services flowing to them were cited among the reasons she has been presented with the 2021 Sherry Lintz New York State Drug Court Award of Excellence.

“Bonnie put a lot of concerted effort into the drug court program during the pandemic,” Troy City Court Judge Chris Maier said.

The writing assignments, Maier and Hazard said, were a different approach toward getting drug court participants to share and open up. When they launched the writing experiment they weren’t sure how it would be received by those in the program.

“They enjoyed it,” Hazard said.

They found that the people, who face misdemeanor drug charges and join the program as a means to turning their lives around, explored other activities during the time COVID -19 has shut down normal life. Woodworking, yoga, cooking are some of the things that grabbed their attention and became passions.

The judge said that Hazard showed over and over again how to keep the treatment court helping its clients during the pandemic. Hazard is a credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselor at the master level.

Hazard originally started on the treatment side when she entered the profession. She moved to the court side seeing it as a way to better help those who are addicted and need help in getting away from drugs.

Seeing program graduates buy homes, graduate from college and find employment are some of the rewards, Hazard said about working in treatment court.

“She’s always dedicated to the participants,” Maier said. “She’s able to relate to people no matter who they are.”