Inside This Issue
Volume 4, Issue 1March 2014
A Publication by the
2014 Officersand Directors
Tennessee Association of Drug Court Professionals
13th AnnualDay on the Hill2Nethery HonorsGraduates2Buffalo Valley, Inc.SSFV Program3The President’sCorner3DeKalb Drug CourtGraduation4MembershipApplication4
PresidentMary SchneiderVice PresidentTracye BryantTreasurerBrad PriceSecretaryRick TaylorWest Tennessee DirectorAngela ParkersonMiddle Tennessee DirectorMike LewisEast Tennessee DirectorJudge Charles CernyAt Large DirectorsRon HanaverKevin BattsJill Barrett
Over 350 drug court professionals and alumniconverged on Murfreesboro, Tennessee this pastDecember 11th through 13th for another greatannual conference. Even though it was theninth annual conference (the year NADCP washere we didn’t have a state conference), drugcourts celebrated the 10th Anniversary of ourenablinglegislationpassed in2003. TheEmbassySuites andConferenceCenter con-tinues to bea greatvenue in terms of location, parking, facilities,food, and friendly staff. TADCP alsoannounced the 2014 dates for the next confer-ence, which will be held once again at theEmbassy Suites and Conference Center inMurfreesboro on December 3 – 5, so mark yourcalendars now! The conference was kicked off with openingremarks by Board President Mary Schneiderand Commissioner Douglas Varney withTennessee’s Mental Health and SubstanceAbuse Services Department. Following theirremarks, 25 drug court alumni from across thestate "paraded" to the podium to share a fewremarks about their drug court experience, thedrug court they attended, and the amount of time they have clean. It was a terrific way tobegin the conference, and we are so grateful forthe time andenergy alumniput into comingto the confer-ence and shar-ing their storieswith us.The confer-ence could nothave worked without the help from all of ourwonderful volunteers who rolled up theirsleeves and pitched in with a warm smile andlots of positive vibes! From managing the frontdesk and stuffing tote bags to making extracopies of handouts, it seemed there was no task too big for them. Folks showed up to stuff 300tote bags, register people coming in on everyday of the conference, help exhibitors put theirexhibit materials up, make sure speakers gotwhere they needed to be, pass out materials inthe sessions and so, so much more than can bewritten here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!Speaking of volunteers, TADCP is alreadybeginning to work on the agenda for 2014. Theconference committee will have it’s fist meetingin the next few weeks and there’s time for youto share your thoughts or feedback with thecommittee. The committee includes: MarySchneider, Board President and Director of theRutherford County Drug Court Programs, LoriTubbs-Douglas, Director of Alternative ChoiceCounseling, Gibson County, Nancy Fallows,Director of the Cumberland and White CountyDrug Courts, Rachel Parker with the CoffeeCounty DrugCourtsProgram, andNorenePuckett,Coordinatorfor theDekalbCountyDrug/DUI and Juvenile Courts Programs.Executive Director Marie Crosson will staff thecommittee. Please feel free to share thoughtsabout the 2014 agenda with any of these folks. There are many more pictures from the con-ference located at the Tennessee Association of Drug Court Professionals Facebook page so gothere, "like" our page, and enjoy! A link to thepictures on Facebook is also included in ourfledgling TADCP BLOG located on our websiteat www.tadcptn.org.
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Drug Treatment Court recognized pro-gram graduates Wednesday during aluncheon at the Jackson City Court.Of the seven current graduates, threewere present to be congratulated by DrugTreatment Court Director DamienNethery and Judge Blake Anderson, aswell as one current par-ticipant who receivedher GED.This is the first timeDrug Treatment Courthas held a recognitionluncheon in the citycourtroom.“This is a place wheremost of our people donot want to come,”Nethery said. “So to beable to have something here in this verycourtroom is very positive, to honor them,to appreciate what they are doing to showthat you can live differently. It was justkind of a really cool visual concept.”Nethery honored people currently in theprogram, recent graduates of the programand past graduates who came to supportthose going through treatment.DrugTreatment Court was establishedin 2003 and has worked closely withAnderson during the past 11 years.“Prior to drug court they were not bigfans of the judge and avoided him at allcost,” Nethery said. “The judge is very open todoing different stuff, andnot just saying, ‘I’mgoing to throw you in jail and throw away thekey and let’s see whathappens.’ He’s verymuch a believer in - if that’s not working let’stry something else.”Drug Treatment Courtis often a last chance opportunity for non-violent drug offenders to get out of jailand deal with addiction problems.“The goal is for you to stop doing whatyou’re doing, so if there is a reasonbehind that then let’s identify that reason.”Drug Treatment Court has 19 currentparticipants in various stages of the three-phase treatment program.“We provide treatment at our office, wedrug screen them randomly throughoutthe week, they do community service,they are required to have a job or be inGED, we assist them with parental rights,we assist them with housing. We considerourselves to be an holistic program, inthat we’re looking at everything.” Netherysaid.
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Last February, TADCP hosted a Day onthe Hill to meet and educate legislatorsabout the great work recovery courts aredoing in Tennessee. Great member par-ticipation and yummy goody bags madethe day a huge success! This year, we are excited to partnerwith the Tennessee Coalition for MentalHealth and Substance Abuse Services(TCMHSAS) by sponsoring an exhibit atthe 13th Annual Day on the Hill at theWar MemorialAuditorium.TCMHSAS is acoalition of provider organiza-tions that representthe interests of mentally ill and substance dependent citi-zens, often demonstrating that representa-tion with a unified voice to educate theTennessee State Legislature and to showconcern when potential cuts to services orfunding is threatened. Hundreds of people attend this annualevent, which will be held on March 18,2014, along with dozens of mental healthand substance abuse services organiza-tions across the state. Familiar organiza-tions like Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations (TAMHO),Tennessee Association of Alcohol andDrug Abuse Services (TAADAS), andMental Health America of MiddleTennessee are just afew examples of the29 coalition membersrepresenting the men-tally ill and substancedependent throughTCMHSAS. TADCP will be among the dozens of organizations on March 18th at the WarMemorial Auditorium to education legis-lators about mental health and substanceabuse services in Tennessee, and explain-ing how recovery courts are an importantpart of this very big picture. We will bethere to represent YOU, our membership,in the vital task of providing education toour stakeholders.
TADCP will be among the dozens of organizations........We will be there to represent YOU, our membership, in the vital task of providing education to our stakeholders.
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Mark Your Calendars!
2014 NADCPConference
December 3-5, 2014
EmbassySuites &Conference CenterMurfreesboro, Tennessee
Damien Nethery, director of Drug Treatment Court,talks about the DTC program and honoring currentparticipants, and graduates of the program. / NICKMCFERRON/The Jackson Sun
Page 3Tennessee Association of DrugCourt Professionals
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BRRRRRRRR ! Even though most of us haven’t seen anysnow, it sure has been cold! Tennesseans aren’t used to this kindof weather. Those of you who remember Rebekah Provost-Emmons from the City of Jackson Treatment Court and formerPresident of TADCP would laugh in sympathy at her posts inFacebook. She is now living in northern Illinois, and as most of you know, they are having a record breaking winter! She is notadjusting well! I think her biggest complaint has been not beingable to find stylish enough snow boots. That’s our Rebekah! On behalf of the TADCP Board and Executive DirectorMarie Crosson, I would like to thank those of you who came tothe conference and made it such a wonderful success. We hadour biggest turn-out ever! The evaluations were very positive!And we have lots of ideas for next year, so start planning for thenext conference, because it will be even better! One comment on the evaluations that I need to address issomeone’s concern that we paid for the open bar each evening atthe hotel. We did not. This is a perk that Embassy Suites offersits customers, just like the free breakfast every morning. I’msure that many of the conference attendees did take advantage of the free drinks during the Manager’s Reception, but TADCP hasalways taken the stance that we will not pay for any alcohol atthe conference. In fact, there was even a discussion about someof the menu items we looked at that had sauces made with alco-hol and it was decided not to choose those items either. We tryto be very conscientious of our peers who are in recovery.Some neat events coming up include the Day on The Hill inMarch and the Coordinators Conference in June. There is anarticle in this newsletter about the Day on The Hill. We are try-ing something new this year by collaborating with a coalition of mental health and substance abuse providers. We hope to domore of this type of thing as we grow and get our name outthere. It is amazing to us how little people still know aboutrecovery courts. So by collaborating with others, we also edu-cate them about us. Another exciting event coming up is our first Board Retreat.We are spending the day together in Nashville with a facilitatorwho will help us develop a Strategic Plan for TADCP. This planwill help us determine what direction TADCP should go in forthe next 3 to 5 years. Adding Marie as our first employee hasmade us realize that as we grow, we need to change. And manyof those changes relate to the members, since it is you who makeup this organization. This is an exciting process and I hope youwill be pleased with what we come up with.Finally, continue to check in on our website:www.tadcptn.org. Marie continues to add things and changethings and improve things! Her latest addition is a blog, whichis just a way of sharing some information with our membershipthat they might be interested in. Also, don’t forget the Facebook page. We would love your pictures and comments on that aswell! Thank you for all you do!
Regards,Mary Schneider, LAPSW
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ServiceArea:Montgomery, Robertson,Sumner, Trousdale,Cheatham, Dickson,Hickman, Williamson, Maury,Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall,Giles, Bedford, Moore,Coffee, Lincoln, Perry andWayne Counties.Contact Information:To determine if you are eligi-ble or to make a referral,please call 800-699-6573 or931-628-6056.Email:PatNorman@buffalovalley.orgorGeraldHerring@buffalovalley.orgBVISSVF staff is also available in Clarksville or Lewisburg.
1-800-699-6573AdministrativeContact:Deborah A Hillin,MA, LADACSenior VicePresidentDebbieHillin@buffalovalley.org
Funded through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The SSVF Program is designed to help to preventhomelessness by helping qualifying Veterans andtheir families gain access to the resources theyneed in order to successfully transition to ormaintain permanent housing.
Qualifications:
• A member of a “Veteran family”:Either(a) a Veteran (a person who served inthe active military, naval, or air service,and who was discharged or releasedtherefore under conditions other thandishonorable):or (b) a member of afamily in which the head of household,or the spouse of the head of household,is a Veteran.• Must have a DD214• “Very low income”:Household incomedoes not exceed 50% of area medianincome as determined by HUD.• Ages 18 and older (family members ofall ages)• “Occupying Permanent Housing”:Avery low-income Veteran family is con-sidered to be occupying permanenthousing if they fall into one of the fol-lowing 3 categories:
Category 1:
Is residing in permanenthousing (proof of eviction and/or pend-ing eviction);
Category 2:
Is homeless and sched-uled to become a resident of perma-nent housing;or 90 days pending thelocation or development of housing suit-able for permanent housing;or
Category 3:
Has exited permanenthousing within the previous 90 days toseek other housing that is responsive tothe very low-income Veteran family’sneeds and preferences.
Required Documentation:
• Verification of Veteran Status:DD214• Verification of Housing Status• Verification of Household• Verification of Income
Screening &Intake:
• Complete an eligibility screening & assessment• Enroll and assigned Case Manager
Expectations:
• Develop Housing Stability Plan• Develop Employment Plan• Identify Barriers &Supportive Services necessary to meet essential needs.
Supportive Services Available:
Veterans and their families are linkedwith Case Managers who will help themquickly regain stability in permanenthousing after experiencing a housingcrisis and /or homelessness.Case Managers will provide guidanceand coordination to Veterans and theirfamilies, helping them to make informeddecisions, to understand their optionsand to gain access to VA benefits andother mainstream resources.The Veterans and their families are con-nected with other community resourcesincluding but not limited to:• Housing counseling services• Vocational and rehabilitation counseling• Employment &training services• Transportation services• Daily living services
TemporaryFinancialAssistance:Time-limited
payments
may be avail-able
to third parties (e.g., temporaryfinancial assistance payments/depositson behalf of Veteran families to land-lords, utility companies, limited childcare services, etc) provided these pay-ments help Veteran families remain inpermanent housing or obtain perma-nent housing