JUVENILES WHO APPEAR in court for a variety of offenses, from shoplifting to illegal possession of alcohol, almost always have underlying substance abuse issues.

For those juveniles who are in the final phase of substance abuse - who are not just using but are addicted to drugs, alcohol or both - a new juvenile drug court project intends to utilize community resources and programs to overcome addiction and, hopefully, help juveniles get their lives back on track.

The juvenile drug court has been operating in Plymouth for about six months and recently began operation in Laconia. Concord, Goffstown and Nashua have also received funding to implement the program, which is based on the adult drug court model used across the country.

According to NH District Court Administrative Judge Edwin W. Kelly, the juvenile drug court project in NH grew out of the frustration of district court judges over the lack of resources for juvenile defendants with substance abuse issues. "It is a common experience of district court judges to see juvenile cases in which there are clearly alcohol and other use and abuse issues, but there are very few or no treatment service opportunities," said Kelly.

Statistics clearly show the growing problem of substance abuse among young adults: Kelly said that there was a 339 percent increase in juvenile drug arrests from 1992 to 1996 and a 26 percent increase in juvenile and adult substance abuse offenses from 1995 to 1998. Surveys show that 35 percent of high school students binge drink at least once a month.

In response to the growing problem and lack of resources, representatives of the court system visited drug courts in other states to develop a drug court model for NH.

Research shows that the most effective way to deal with substance issues is through a program of intense supervision that involves the juvenile's entire family and school and community resources. The model that was developed for the NH juvenile drug court is such a program.

Cases involving juvenile defendants 17 years old and younger are first screened for substance abuse issues. School officials and police officers help the courts identify alcohol- or drug-involved youth. Public defenders and private attorneys are also aware of the program and sometimes participate in the process. Those youths identified as having substance issues are immediately referred to a case manager (one at each court location), who does an initial interview and assessment of the juvenile to get an idea of the level of substance abuse.

The juvenile drug court was developed to help those defendants who are addicted to drugs or alcohol, rather than occasional or frequent (but not addicted) users. Those less involved with substances are referred to other programs (see one such program in sidebar). But Kelly said that there will be some "overlap" in the courts of those communities that do not have specific programs for other levels of substance abuse. "Those courts will likely take regular users into the program, too," Kelly said.

The NH juvenile drug court uses a post-adjudication model: After the juvenile is found guilty of the charges against him or her, he or she is taken into the program. A treatment plan is established that utilizes existing community resources and services, such as substance abuse counseling and skills-building courses. Program participants meet regularly with and are given weekly drug tests by juvenile probation & parole officers, whom Kelly calls the program's "trackers." If a participant fails a test, the consequences are immediate; for some, this means placement in a youth detention center. The program uses graduated sanctioning for non-compliance, according to Kelly.

Weekly group sessions of all juvenile drug court participants is an integral part of the program. At least one parent of each participant is required to attend these sessions. Both the parent and child waive confidentiality during the sessions so that each family will share its experiences with other participants. The hope is that families will learn from and identify with the experiences of fellow participants. "The kids also get a sense of the rewards and consequences of the program by seeing what happens to other kids," said Kelly. Participants may see a juvenile guilty of violating the no-substance policy sent to YDC, for example.

Once a juvenile has successfully completed all components of the juvenile drug court program, which includes a minimum of six months of after-care, he or she can move to vacate the finding that led to participation in the program and to annul his or her juvenile record.

Kelly has been supervising the juvenile drug court program in Plymouth for over six months and said that he has seen "terrific successes."

"We are seeing amazing progress with these kids, in part because in this program there is immediate accountability," said Kelly. "We see far more success with a program like this because of the involvement of the parents," he added.

There have been a "couple of failures," but by and large, the program has proven "extremely successful" so far, Kelly said.

The juvenile drug court program is grant-funded for the next three years, including funding for the case managers from a Juvenile Accountability block grant. There is no state funding for the program. Kelly said that during that time, the courts will be measuring the outcomes of the program carefully to determine if it should be continued and expanded to other courts across the state.

"We are very optimistic that this is going to be an extremely effective tool for helping substance-addicted juveniles," said Kelly.

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