The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Drug Court offers chance at ‘clean slate’
Specialized docket has been in Mentor Municipal Court more than a decade
The mood was light in Mentor Municipal Court July 20.
Judge John Trebets shared jokes, stories and words of encouragement with the Lake County Drug Court participants present for their regular hearings.
That lighthearted atmosphere is not uncommon, drug court participant “Victoria” said. The News-Herald is not using Victoria’s real name to protect her identity.
There was another reason for the light atmosphere at the July 20 hearing: Victoria’s graduation date from the program was set for Aug. 17.
“It’s really been a joy to come every week and see the progress that now I’m making, but other people are making and seeing where they started to where they are now,” she said. “It’s usually a pretty good environment.”
Victoria said that addiction is a serious thing, “so to just be able to take a deep breath when you get here and know that it’s not this super serious situation” is a helpful thing.
“It’s more of a fun, lighthearted ‘let’s talk, let’s figure things out’ kind of thing,” she said.
That makes coming to hearings easier, she added.
“If I was coming in here every week and getting yelled at or not getting recognized for accomplishments or whatever it might be — not that I need recognition, but it’s nice they see those things — I would be probably very discouraged to come,” she said.
Victoria added that with that being said, if someone is struggling or not following the rules, Trebets “definitely does not mind getting serious because he really cares about everybody and wants them to do this.
“Everything is lighthearted as long as everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said.
Trebets has previously said the drug court is where “people receive life-changing treatment and longterm accountability.” Trebets began the drug court in his jurisdiction in 2010 and in 2015 it expanded to become the Lake County Drug Court. Trebets also started a mental health court in 2004.
“Each participant is shown compassion rather than judgment, assistance rather than punishment, and are provided with a passport to recovery,” Trebets said. “The tireless dedication and commitment of our specialty docket teams is driven by the conviction that by working together there is no case beyond our reach.”
Victoria said her path to entering the program began when she was working at a dentist’s office and wrote herself in a prescription for a narcotic.
“That caught up to me,” she said. “It was probably four or five months before I got a knock on my door and I wound up having a warrant and came in and they talked to me. They offered (the drug court program). They explained to me what it was.”
Victoria admits she was “very, very reluctant” in the beginning because of the time commitment. The program takes 18 to 24 months and hearings are held on a weekly basis in the initial phase. She said that even prior to the knock on her door, she had already gotten herself into treatment.
“So by the time I got here I was like, ‘well I’m already in treatment, maybe I should just add some more on top of it to just really make sure I had a good foundation,’” she said. “I ended up going with it because there’s a lot of benefits.
“The support here is great, these people are wonderful,” she added. “And then also another huge bonus is when I graduate my charges will be gone. So then I won’t have any record. I’ll have a clean slate and really be able to put all of this behind me.”
Victoria said that knock on her door was the first time she faced legal trouble, but admitted she could have been caught “many of times” before that.
She said she began experimenting with pills when she was 16 years old after getting into two bad car accidents that happened close together.
“And then that just kind of increased, so I would say pretty heavy use from 17 to 24,” she said. “I had very short periods of sobriety in there. Nothing substantial. I mean less than two weeks.”
She went to treatment once before in 2017. Victoria said she had more willingness in treatment this time.
“The fact that I have a son who was born in 2018 and I just did not want to be another statistic…I just don’t want that for my son or for me,” she said.
The Lake County Drug Court has three phases.
“The first phase is a weekly basis,” Victoria said. “You come in every Tuesday. There’s multiple drug screens in the beginning. You get called in randomly. You have to call and it tells us if we come in or not.”
Victoria was moving through that initial phase as lockdowns were put in place due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. As restrictions were lifted, she moved into the next phase of the program.
“Then it was every other week and then pretty recently — I haven’t been in this last phase very long, I’d say maybe six months — it goes to monthly.”
The shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic added extra challenges for those in recovery. Victoria said that during that period, there was no drug testing, there were no inperson court hearings and the Narcotics Anonymous meeting she goes to were also shut down.
She said she had about a year of sobriety when the shutdown began.
“I had a little bit of clean time then, but it was difficult to have everything ripped away overnight and not have that support,” she said. “But luckily the judge called personally every week during drug court so we still did the check-ins on Tuesdays over the phone. We had a lot of good talks over the phone.”
There were also Narcotics Anonymous meetings online, so there were still ways to get that support, Victoria said. It wasn’t quite the same as an in-person connection, she added.
“It was difficult, for sure,” she said, but added, recovery didn’t stop, it just changed.
After graduation, Victoria said she will have more time to focus on school. She started taking online classes in January at Northwestern University. She’s pursuing a master’s in clinical mental health counseling.
“I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to do something in the field of psychology or counseling,” she said. “I do have my undergrad in psychology, but definitely once I got clean and realized how many people struggle with (addiction) and we need so much more help than we have, it really solidified the fact that this is what I want to do.”
It’s a three-year program, so she still has “a bit to go,” she said.
In addition to school, recovery will also remain a focus. But being a mom is always the number one focus, she said.
“I love when I ask a mother about the kid and you see that smile, the love on their face,” Trebets said to Victoria at the July 20 hearing. “The most important job you have in the world is being a parent. And I’m so proud of you because I know you take it seriously.”