Newburgh’s Drug Court Celebrates Graduation

NEWBURGH – The latest round of participants finished their program and graduated from Newburgh’s 10-year-old Drug Court on Wednesday.  They celebrated with their families, court workers, and public officials.

Drug Court in Newburgh has been around for approximately 10 years and is a way for certain individuals with drug crimes, who qualify, to get the help they need, rather than being thrown into the criminal justice system.

Anthony, one of this year’s graduates who was willing to share his thoughts with the public, said although faith has had a major impact on his recovery, the multi-faceted approach of the program and attention to the psychological nature of the disease of addiction was instrumental in him finding success when treatment had failed before.

“It’s spiritual and psychological warfare,” said Anthony.  “It’s not just about the mind. It’s not just about the heart and spirit: it has to do with both of them, and given that, I think what the program does is it encourages the psychological side of it, and the fleshly side of it, where we make sure we got our brain taken care of and we learn the things we need to learn. But, as for the spiritual aspect of it, that has to come from the person within and that has to come from the will to want to get better.”

This year’s graduation was also the second one for Newburgh’s newly adopted veterans’ track program which has had huge success rates.

Colton Flores, a graduate and U.S. Air Force veteran, said initially, he wasn’t giving the program the attention it deserved, just as he had done in prior treatment endeavors; however, the support he received through the Newburgh veterans’ track grounded him and changed his perspective.

“I didn’t do any work on myself,” Flores said.  “I was doing the work I had to do, but I was doing the bare, bare minimum of what I had to do, and as time went on, it got easier and I realized I have to do this anyway, I might as well make it worth my while. I started to like the programs that I was in. I like going to groups every week and individual sessions, and I like coming here and talking to the judge and calling Melissa [Ortquist] and just everyone here was so helpful and supportive.”

Flores said he wanted to especially thank Derek Brown and the Orange Veteran’s Equity and Empowerment Team for helping him do some intense self-reflection, which ended up being a huge factor in his success. He said he likes the person he has become, and with a nephew coming, he is proud he can now be a role model for him.

Newburgh City Court Judge E Loren Williams said the program exists to get those individuals who have the potential to contribute in the community back on the right path.

“It’s nice to see people who’ve stumbled get back on their feet and move on with their lives, and that’s really what this program is about,” Williams said. “I mean, the entire premise would be, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’; we help out the people in our community to make our community a better place and that’s what we do here.”

Currently, the traditional track for Newburgh’s Drug Court has an above 50 percent success rate and the new veterans track has shown 100 percent success, thus far, in its first two programs.