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Addicts, families hope program survives setbacks
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JESSICA EBELHAR/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Youth Offender Court defendant Jack Armstrong talks with pro bono defense attorney Steven M. Altig in a holding cell at the Regional Justice Center. Armstrong was doing well in a drug addiction treatment program until he met up with a drug-using buddy. » Buy this photo
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JESSICA EBELHAR/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Chains stop Youth Offender Court defendant Jack Armstrong from wiping away a tear as he talks about his setback of using drugs while in the recovery program. Armstrong, 20, is in a transitional prison facility to work on his sobriety. » Buy this photo
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JESSICA EBELHAR/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Judge Cedric Kerns expresses dismay with Youth Offender court defendant Sarah Lang during court Thursday at the Regional Justice Center. » Buy this photo
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JESSICA EBELHAR/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Youth Offender Court defendant Emily Hoeffner appears before Judge Cedric Kerns at the Regional Justice Center. Hoeffner is a recovering heroin addict who is almost 100 days clean since her first day of the drug treatment program. Her recovery has improved greatly. Four weeks ago, the judge was threatening to kick Hoeffner out of the program for being uncooperative and not doing what she was told to do. The 19-year-old said she is grateful she stuck with Kerns’ program. » Buy this photo
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: May 30, 2011 | 4:40 p.m.
Jack Armstrong fights back tears in a holding cell at the Regional Justice Center before a recent court appearance as he recounts caving in to the pressures of drug use in the midst of his recovery.
His neon orange "INMATE" jumpsuit contrasts with the cell's dreary white walls. Chains around his arms and legs clang on the hard bench as he explains what went wrong.
"I thought I could fight it," said Armstrong, his eyes watering. "I thought my willpower was good enough."
Just six weeks ago, the 20-year-old drug addict spoke proudly to a Review-Journal reporter about his sobriety and success in the Youth Offender Court program.
Judge Cedric Kerns, who created the drug treatment program in April, had taken Armstrong off a tracking device only a few weeks earlier to reward him for his efforts.
He had become a poster child of the program and represented the success of conquering drug addiction.
Armstrong didn't want to face the judge who gave him a second chance at sobriety.
To face the family that believed in him.
To face the friends who supported him.
To face the other offenders who strived for his success.
With success comes failure, which is highlighted by the struggle of YO Court defendants such as Armstrong who work to stay sober.
The valley's drug counseling resources could not stop Armstrong from surrendering again to his addiction to prescription medication. The toughest part was admitting it.
When his drug-using buddy returned to town, Armstrong's 80-plus days of sobriety were gone -- just like that.
Armstrong repeatedly apologizes as the tears roll freely down his face at this realization. The chains around his arms and waist make it difficult to wipe away the tears.
He admits using synthetic urine he bought to pass his drug tests once his ankle bracelet was taken off. He says he knew better. He talks about the power of his addiction.
Armstrong gasps for breath as his body uncontrollably quivers from the sobbing he desperately wants to suppress. After a few minutes, he collects himself and continues.
When the drugs entered his bloodstream, Armstrong said he welcomed his old friend, OxyContin, and that familiar numbing feeling.
"I just wanted to get high," he said, dejectedly. "I couldn't think of anything else."
Just last month, defendant Emily Hoeffner was on thin ice with Kerns. The 19-year-old heroin addict was uncooperative, and the judge wanted to kick her out of the YO Court program. He tossed her in jail at least twice for not completing court mandates.
Hoeffner now is one of the success stories, a far cry from almost being tossed out six weeks ago.
The other offenders pleaded with Kerns to keep Hoeffner in the program. They wanted to help her with sobriety because nothing else had worked. Now, Hoeffner is more than 90 days sober and feeling better about staying clean. Before, she could not stay sober for more than a few hours.
Her addiction was so bad at one point she robbed people at gunpoint to make sure she had her heroin. Hoeffner used drugs so she would not be sick during the day.
"The program is actually making me get back on track with my life," Hoeffner said. "I don't think anybody else could save me, but I think this program will save my life."
She eliminated the enablers in her life and said she is grateful for life in a sober home.
"I've changed a hell of a lot since I came into the program," Hoeffner said. "I'm more motivated, and I'm working on my confidence. I take baby steps. I don't make the big leaps. I can only do this one step at a time."
YO Court is a yearlong drug treatment program in Las Vegas Municipal Court that requires defendants and their families to participate in the recovery process.
Offenders are 18- to 24-year-olds, who are there for other crimes such as petty larceny and failing to pay traffic fines. Instead, they used money for court fines to feed their addictions.
Family participation is a key to the program, even when a defendant stumbles. Connie Graham, Armstrong's mother, said going through the program has helped her learn the skills to cope with her son's addiction.
"If I hadn't gone through this program, I would be a basket case right now," Graham said. "I would get no sleep. I'd be frustrated. I'd be emotional. The program is not just for the addict; it's for the family members. That's what's key. Because things are better for me, Jack's chance of getting better is greater."
Before the program, Graham said she enabled her son's behavior by bailing him out of sticky situations. She has since learned to step back and let her son fend for himself.
Despite her son's slip-up, the program is working for the other 20 or so offenders, she added.
"Even if the ultimate horrible thing happens, where Jack ends up in a gutter somewhere or overdoses, I want the program to go on," Graham said.
"I don't want the program to fail because my child chooses not to work the program. It's an opportunity that otherwise these guys won't have."
Kerns said the successes and failures of the defendants are all a part of the unexpected nature of the new program, which includes incentives such as show tickets for good behavior, at times.
"There is no 'one size fits all,' " Kerns said. "It's all different. There's no formula. We all sit down to figure out what they need and take care of it.
He is working to alter the program to incorporate a three-strike component that punishes offenders who make mistakes in the program by downgrading where they live during their recovery, offering more jail time or moving them into transitional prison housing called Casa Grande, where Armstrong recently was transferred.
"It's a facility you go to from prison when you have time hanging over you, and you're able to fit in with society once your time is done," Kerns said.
Jack Armstrong will be there for 10 weeks and is allowed to contact his family only by letter.
"If Jack's going to get sober, this will be what will do it," Graham said.
YO Court is funded by private donations and state money slated for specialty court programs. Defendants pay off their fines and rent. Their families pay discounted prices for counseling and other rehabilitation resources mandated by the program.
Kerns said his YO Court budget is about $60,000 this year. If the defendants had been jailed, it would have cost taxpayers about $95 per day for them.
"Funding is tough. We make our defendants pay for themselves," Kerns said. "The defendant is working on recovery, pays for housing, and stress is the No. 1 indicator for relapse. We're surviving."
But money is a major source of stress for the defendants, the judge said.
Another measure of success is the way defendants' families are changing how they relate to their loved ones' addictions. Graham, Armstrong's mother, told the judge she thought her son was using again, and "she would never have done that before," Kerns said.
Rob Hunter, a clinical psychologist and addiction specialist with Las Vegas Recovery Center, which works with the new court program, said he is noticing the change in the attitudes of YO Court families.
Hunter offers a family renewal session that teaches defendants' relatives about addiction.
"It's a way in which we encourage them to establish their own support networks. We teach them about brain function and what happens when addicts use. The point is to strengthen family members individually and as a whole. It's rebirth without the addiction."
Hunter said Kerns' approach with his defendants is rare because he involves the families.
"He does more of that hands-on stuff than any other judge I've ever seen in my life," Hunter said. "We need more of those guys here in Las Vegas."
For defendants such as Armstrong, Kerns and the YO Court program represent a path to sobriety that could mean the difference between life and death. Armstrong said he is striving to improve for both himself and his family.
"I hope I'm ready this time," he said. "I hope I don't have another use in me. I hope this is my last time being in chains. I do want to become sober."
Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.
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I want some of that fresh young meat in my cell !
This is an article of bull, that is self-serving to the administrators that be. There is little evidence that drug addicts can be really helped. The money spent is just wasted. It's all shouting and no results past a few "test cases," that are fawned over.
What drug addicts want is a program to stay out of prison and reduce the amount of drugs necessary to get them high. Sincerity is almost always missing, but these people are good liars--after all he even said he went for a test with synthetic urine. They lie and lie and yet know EXACTLY what they are doing.
What kind of a white-wash is the article. WHAT DID THE GUY DO WRONG TO WIND UP IN CHAINS??
You don't want to say. Then you should can the article!
Wasn't Jack Armstrong the "All-American Boy" (to those old enough to remember)? What happened, Jack? You don't need that crap, reality is a lot more fun!
And many want 'drugs' legalized? Legal alcohol is unreal enough! Pro-drug broadcasting(TV, movies, Rap, etc.) society we allow is OK? For entertainment, maybe. For the week minded who feels it's cool and hip and 'who cares about anyone but me!' attitude is BS. We all make our beds in life and rock bottom for druggies/drunks, should be jail/prison or unfortunatly, worse.
Just do another line and move on with life guys! LOL
That's O.K. - Just be a Lindsay Lohan and you NEVER have to go to jail.
Addicts have a choice in this life...be clean, stay clean or stay on the addiction path they're on. Drug treatment centers only work if the person wants to get clean. They are not a waste of taxpayers money, the waste of taxpayers money comes from theses addicts playing the system! Addicts have a bottom that in some cases makes them stay clean, sadly the majority of addicts their bottom is death! People need to stop blaming others for their problems and take responsibility for their own actions in this life. In other words GROW UP!!!
WHILE NORMAL PEOPLE WERE WORKING AND WORRYING,THIS SPINELESS MISCREANT WAS STEALING AND PARTYING.LET HIM LIVE WITH HARRY REID.
Judge, Involve the families all you want (as posted below - nothing new about this). I posted the below on Sept 19, 2010. The first thing you and skin in the game Mr. Hunter need to do is to implement something similar to the following as these addicts do not have a clue what they are dealing with. "Amen posted 09/19/2010 - All they need to learn is that IT IS ALL A LIE. Trust nothing between their ears, question all thinking 24/7. Everything else is fluff and delusion. Judge my best advice to you is to make them all wear t-shirts that say IT'S ALL A LIE so it is ever present in their minds, lest they forget early in their recovery and fall prey once again to their diseased, yes "monster", thinking." Keep up the good fight, Judge. If you save one out of hundred you will be a success. Even one saved is a miracle, given the power of the monster that has come to rule the minds of these young addicts.