South County Center for Change 38th Drug Court Graduation

Mental Health Systems’ South County Center for Change will hold its 38th Drug Court Graduation at 5:30 p.m. on August 3rd, at the Chula Vista Memorial Bowl, located at 373 Park Way in Chula Vista.

One of Mental Health Systems’ four highly successful San Diego County Drug Court programs, South County Center for Change has been in operation since 1997. During its thirteen years of operation, the program has had more than 800 successful graduates.

Overall, Drug Courts attempt to achieve the goals of reducing crime and improving lives that have been impacted by drug addiction in order to assist participants in leading clean, sober, independent and productive lives. The 18-month programs use a collaborative approach to treat substance abuse while increasing public safety. The model includes frequent random drug testing, judicial and law enforcement supervision, individual and group drug treatment counseling, educational and vocational training opportunities, and the use of court-imposed sanctions and incentives. The judge is actively involved in supervising each drug court participant with the prosecutor, defense attorney, police officers and treatment counselors.

Recently, San Diego District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis spoke of the success of the County- funded drug court programs, saying, “The adult drug courts have evolved from start-up pilot programs to model collaborative courts visited by other counties, states, and foreign dignitaries interested in emulating their programs on San Diego’s success.”

Ms. Dumanis described the graduations as occasions to “celebrate the individual successes, acknowledge the challenges faced by participants, and highlight the incredible opportunities that come from a multi-agency team approach to problem solving in our communities.”

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Graduate Speech from County-wide Drug Court Ceremony held in May, 2010