Recovery Court Celebrates 20th Anniversary
The 20th Circuit Court is pleased to announce that the Ottawa County Recovery Court, an intensive supervision program for non-violent felony offenders with acute substance use disorders, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year.
The Recovery Court, presided over by the Honorable Mark A. Feyen, opened its doors in January 2005.
"The directive to create the program came from Chief Judge Edward R. Post and followed in step with the proliferation of similar programs across the country," said Judge Feyen.
Over the past 20 years, "Our recovery court has achieved a number of notable accomplishments," said Andrew Brown, Recovery Court Coordinator. Some of those achievements include:
- The program has been exclusively funded by state and federal grants for 20 years, so there has been no cost for local taxpayers.
- More than doubled capacity from 30 to 75 participants.
- First recovery court in the State of Michigan, and one of the first in the country, to employ recovery coaches (peer mentors) to work with participants.
- Selected two consecutive times (2017-2022) as one of eight national mentor courts (out of 3,200 drug courts across the United States) by the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. In this role, the recovery court provided technical assistance and mentoring to more than 50 drug courts from around the country.
- Delivered over 25 presentations at state and national conferences on topics ranging from grant writing and management, use of peer recovery coaches, use of medication assisted treatment in a court setting, and program evaluation.
- Organized and hosted 13 recovery coach training academies resulting in over 220 community members earning certifications as peer recovery coaches, with graduates currently employed in every major healthcare system and community mental health agency in our adjacent counties.
- Judge Feyen, who retires at the end of 2024, has continuously presided over the recovery court for all 20 years, making him one of the longest tenured judges in the country.
- 71% graduation rate for the 500+ participants that have been in recovery court.
- Independent evaluations completed by Grand Valley State University and Michigan State Court Administrative Office (using a quasi-experimental design) show that participants in recovery court are 73% less likely to recidivate comparted to similar persons sentenced to traditional probation, which translates to a 15-25% overall reduction in reoffending.
"An attitude that best characterizes our program is 'grit,'" said case manager Emily Achterhof. "It can often feel like we're fighting an uphill battle as we work with a very high-risk and high-need group of people which is challenging, addiction is still poorly understood and stigmatized by the public, and we do this while weathering the uncertainties of being grant funded."
The recovery court is funded solely by time-limited grants awarded by the Michigan Supreme Court, Department of Justice, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
'We believe in what we do, and we know through conclusive research that our recovery court produces results that improve public safety for the community and quality of life for our participants and their families," says Judge Feyen.
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