Phase I of the program encompasses the time frame from Drug Court admission, which is when the Drug Court Judge officially signs orders admitting the candidate into the program thus canceling the previously established sentencing hearing date, to the time when the participant successfully completes the array of phase I expectations. These expectations, listed and unlisted include but are not limited to concepts of follow-through, emotional tolerance, impulse control, honesty, adherence to rules, etc…In other words, the participant completing phase I will have had a pretty solid array of information provided them by numerous professionals. Information ranging from substance use to personality deficits, and the program expectation now is that the participants begin enacting a daily plan and lifestyle that aids in the further development of new cognitive and behavioral patterns/outcomes.
Phase I starts with an orientation meeting where paperwork is signed and the new participant begins to fully understand what the overall program expectations are. Case management meetings combined with court hearings, urine testing, self-help attendance, and small group participation opportunities pretty much round out a week in the life of a drug court participant. In phase I the participant is typically on the outside looking in. They are in an unfamiliar process where they are asked to give up allot, conform allot, and to be honest all the time, a platform that not too many are excited about, at least not initially.
In Phase I participants, along with their case supervisors meet with the Drug Court Treatment Coordinator and as a team treatment service levels are decided upon and start dates are identified. These identified service levels reflect the service level recommendations of the participant’s substance use evaluation.
Here in phase I employment, community service, etc. is of the utmost importance. Here the participant is expected to contribute within the community in which they live. Employment not only earns the participant monetary reward but provides positive structure, positive recognition, as well as positive stimulation.
Phase I, as well as the remaining phases of the program, vary in length and have no set time designations. Working through each phase is not merely a matter of compliance and checking off each expectation but more of an integration and ownership process. Phase I has the expectation that the participant begins learning about self and begins acquiring the motivation to start building the foundation of a recovery program. End of phase I beginning of phase II is the expected time frame where the participant starts in a program of recovery not because they are told to do so anymore, but more because they know they need to do it (personal ownership).
While in phase I participants will typically notice a reduction in some of the previously adhered to expectations. For example, drug court hearings may be reduced from once a week to every other or every three weeks. Office appointments with one’s Drug Court Case Supervisor may be reduced in much the same manner. Urine testing expectations will not be reduced for the entirety of one’s Drug Court involvement.