When Syracuse’s first opioid addiction treatment court opened last year, Judge Rory McMahon was unsure of the work that lay ahead.

One year and 95 cases later, the Court for Addiction, Recovery and Education continues to connect nonviolent criminals to treatment for opioid addictions. The court, modeled after Buffalo’s treatment court system, ran smoothly in 2019, said McMahon, the court’s presiding judge.

“We’ve had a lot of success, and a lot of people relapse and come back, but yes, I really believe it’s making a difference,” he said.

Onondaga County experienced 86 unintended opioid related deaths and 81 unintended prescription opioid-related deaths between January and July 2019, according to county data. The county experienced a near 15% rise in opioid deaths in the first nine months of 2019 after decreasing steadily since 2016.

Patients in the CARE program receive substance abuse treatment from one of three inpatient and outpatient centers, as well as individual case management and judicial supervision. The district attorney suspends a participant’s charges while they are admitted to the program. Charges are reviewed and possibly reduced after completion, McMahon said.

One hundred thirty cases have been referred to the court since its opening last January, 95 of which were processed within the CARE program. Thirty-five cases were not admitted because of their jurisdiction within town and village courts.

McMahon individually meets with participants on a daily basis to check their progress. McMahon asks participants about their sobriety and ongoing stresses in their lives during the meetings, he said.

Other attorneys are not present during these off-the-record conversations, McMahon said. The meetings focus on McMahon getting to know the participants and forming a relationship, he said.

The biggest challenge is convincing court participants to get the help they need, he said.

“We know what their dreams are, and what they’ve been through, and how they’ve wound up where they are, and how hard they’re working to overcome their addiction,” he said. “So, when there is a setback, you do take it a little personally.”

Twenty-six participants completed the CARE program successfully throughout the year, said Resource Coordinator Dan Schick. Another 30 cases are “actively, successfully engaged in treatment,” Schick said.

Transporting participants to treatment from the court was another difficulty McMahon said he encountered. The court relies on nonprofit support to provide participants with accessible treatment, he said.

McMahon said last year that he believes the CARE court will exist for as long as it takes to fulfill the city’s needs. That need remains to this day, he said.

A former participant, after completing the CARE program, asked McMahon to officiate her wedding next month.

“That one piece, that one couple made a difference,” he said.

Published on January 22, 2020 at 10:05 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu