Serving Siouxland: Woodbury County Drug Court volunteers help people on the path to recovery

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — The Woodbury County Community Drug Court is a program facilitated by volunteer community panels for juvenile and adult substance abusers.

Will Meier is a juvenile probation officer. He said the program began in 1999 with a few people and a few ideas.

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"Different community partners have come together," Meier said. "Juvenile court services with Gary Niles, adult corrections, department of corrections, Judge Ackerman was one of the players, the county."

The goal is to treat offenders differently than what has been done in the past, and provide help, structure, and consistency. Brittni Cooper is a juvenile probation officer for the drug court. During juvenile cases, authorities meet with the family, examine how frequently the kid uses drugs or alcohol, and consider the support services the young person might need. After that, they determine if they're appropriate for drug court.

"So, then they come down to drug court," Cooper said. "They're assigned one Wednesday a month and so they come and meet with their community panel, and the panel members give them support and maybe ideas of things they can do to help their sobriety and further them in the recovery."

Authorities said the program's track record speaks for itself.

"Oftentimes, they want to be involved in drug court," Meier said.

Cooper said she's seen a great turnaround in kids she's worked with over the years.

"I see kids all the time that I've had in the past that are now deciding 'Hey, I want to come back and I want to go to meetings and get help and I'm proud of my recovery.' I see them now having families and good jobs, so the success may not seem immediate, but it is there," Cooper said.

Cooper said the drug court panel consists of community members, rather than a judge, and that makes a big difference.

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"Some of them have recovery backgrounds. Some don't," she said. "Some are just, we have principals. We have mental health providers that just want to give back, and so for the kids to see that people want to help them and are there because they're volunteering their time and really want to help, make a big impact."

It's a program powered by teamwork and people looking to help others.

"I just want to mention how thankful we are for all the community members and our panel members, because this wouldn't be as successful without them," Cooper said.

If you want to volunteer to help with Woodbury County's community drug court program, stop by at the office at 822 Douglas Street in Sioux City. You can ask to fill out an application and shadow a panel and see if you're interested.