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DART Contributes to Avery Drug Treatment Court

The Drug Abuse Resolution Team (D.A.R.T.) presents money to Avery Drug Treatment Court (DTC). (left to right) Dale Kirkley, Case Manager for DTC/Mediation and Restorative Justice Center (MRJC); Vanessa Henley, Program Coordinator/Case Manager for DTC/MRJC; 24th District Judge Ted McIntyre; Marisa Cornell, Executive Director for MRJC and DTC Program Director; Nancy Stroupe Morrison, Chairman, D.A.R.T.; Tess McNabb, D.A.R.T. Board member; and Ruth Brown, D.A.R.T. Board member.

After a session of Avery County’s Drug Treatment Court in December, Chairman Nancy Stroupe Morrison and Board members Tess McNabb and Ruth Brown of the Drug Abuse Resolution Team (D.A.R.T.) presented two donation checks to members of the Avery County Drug Treatment Court.

One of the donation checks was designated to cover the next ten graduations in the Avery County Drug Treatment Court program. Each graduate will receive a $50 gift card for either groceries or gas and $100 is designated to cover his or her graduation reception to mark this special occasion.

The other check was given to add five extra hours per week during 2018 for the Avery County Drug Treatment Court Program Coordinator/Case Manager. The extra hours will allow more interaction for the program coordinator with law enforcement, legal and judicial personnel, and additional time to select appropriate candidates for the Avery Drug Treatment Court.

Drug Treatment Courts have been shown to significantly reduce drug use and crime and at substantial savings. The participants receive treatment and monitoring in their communities thereby keeping their families intact and, in many instances, their jobs. The program is an intensive year-long treatment program and Avery County’s DTC is one of only fourteen such programs in the State. Starting in 2002, D.A.R.T. members partnered with law enforcement and the court system and eventually made Drug Treatment Court an Avery County reality.