Information from both first and second round interviews, together with background material from case files, was used to trace the trajectory through the program of a selected group of participants. While they are not statistically representative of the whole participant group, and include a somewhat higher proportion of graduates than the participant group as a whole, they provide a range of experiences that are otherwise not untypical. This section allows the reader to gain a more personalised and individual view of some of the young people’s journeys through the YDC program. The names of the individuals have been changed, as have certain aspects of their characteristics and/or stories, in order to avoid possible identification.
‘Dave’
Dave was 18 when he entered the YDC program. He had had a long history of poly-substance abuse, beginning at 14 years of age, and in particular was highly dependent on heroin - his main drug of choice. It was the opinion of those who were involved in Dave’s assessment that he was using drugs to self-medicate in order to cope with trauma that he had experienced as a result of emotional abuse and domestic violence within the family. Involvement with an entrenched substance-using peer group was also thought to have led Dave into increased levels of offending.
Dave presented with a three-year history of offending. The charges for which he came onto the program included possession of an unauthorised firearm, resisting a police officer and possession of prohibited drugs. Dave reported his involvement in criminal activities prior to the program as not resulting from a need to procure money for drugs, but more as a need to obtain money during periods of financial hardship.
Dave was already taking part in a residential rehabilitation program at the time of his acceptance on to the YDC program. In fact Dave believed that due to the severity of his offences he would not have been accepted on to the program had this not been the case. Dave’s assessment took place in the rehabilitation center, after which time he was discharged following an incident of violence. He was, however, allowed to live at home with the family on the condition that he could produce clean urine samples.
During his first interview Dave admitted that he had only a limited memory of this time, as he had relapsed back into heroin use quite badly. After only about a month at home Dave overdosed and his bail was breached. There followed a spell in custody while another suitable rehabilitation program was found.
This time Dave entered an adult rehabilitation program. Despite being discharged for a month for fighting, he was reaccepted and went on to successfully complete the
program. Dave also voluntarily extended his YDC program by two months in order to complete his residential rehabilitation program. He was on the program for a total of eight months. When Dave left the rehabilitation centre he went into shared accommodation which his Juvenile Justice counsellor helped to identify and secure.
Dave was very positive about the effect that the program had had on his life. He believed that without it he would have been spending a considerable time in custody (he estimated two years). Without incarceration or the support of the YDC,
I would have been dead, or at least there wouldn’t have been a lot of me left.
Dave attributed his success on the program to his maturity and the fact that he had reached a point in his life where he was ready to change.
I was just past it you know. I had gone to rock bottom and was not going any further.
The YDC program had provided the added impetus that was needed, and the adult rehabilitation had been a particularly useful experience. Although Dave thought that this rehab would not be right for all young people, he felt that he was treated as an adult there, and was finally taken seriously. He also found the one-to-one counselling that was offered there more valuable than the groups that he had been attending at juvenile rehab.
The program was much harder than Dave imagined it would be, and he was unprepared for the intense level of supervision.
While Dave was mainly positive main about the program, he did feel that more could have been done to help relations with his family and he was disappointed that more family counselling was not offered. Dave encountered a feeling of isolation and separation from his family while he was residing at the residential rehabilitation, and sometimes felt angry that his family was criticised and that he was told that he could not be at home. It was also hard to leave residential rehabilitation and then graduate from the program a week later. Dave would have preferred more time to stabilise in the community.
Dave also felt that it would have been much better if he had been able always to see the same magistrate at report back sessions. He felt that this would have helped in a proper assessment of his progress. Dave would also have liked to have had more opportunity for vocational education and experience that he could present to an employer.
The first interview with Dave took place two months after his graduation from the program. He was still living in the same accommodation that had been found for him when he was on the program and was happy there. He was unemployed at the time, but was continuing to attend a course to obtain a forklift licence and hoped to secure some factory work. Dave had ceased using heroin, though admitted recreational use of alcohol. He was reasonably positive about the future and reported having an improved relationship with his family, whom he now saw much more frequently than before he entered the program.
Dave’s second interview took place about nine months after his first interview. He admitted to a significant lapse in heroin use, although he said he was not using at the time of the interview. He had referred himself for medicated detoxification treatment through a hospital, but found the experience unsatisfactory. The medication which he was prescribed made him feel worse, and in the end he detoxed on his own. He felt that knowledge he had gained from the YDC program helped him through this period, particularly through an understanding of what was happening to him physically.
While not currently using heroin he believed that he was treading a thin line and could easily lose control. Use of other drugs such as alcohol and cannabis had increased as a result, Dave believed, of his decrease in heroin use. While no specific health issues were raised Dave alluded to episodes of self-harm and depression.
Dave was continuing to work casually, often for friends. He aimed to return to college the following year to complete his year 10 as a bridge to a graphic design course. He was claiming Centrelink benefits and was exempt from mutual obligation activities as had been classified as unfit for work while at residential rehabilitation on the YDC program. Dave felt that if he had not been receiving money from Centrelink he would not have been able to support himself and would have had to turn again to crime.
Dave had moved from his old shared accommodation, as he was not happy living with people he did not know, into private accommodation on his own. He was about to move into his girlfriend’s house in the same area. She does not use drugs and knows little about his past.
Dave was not keen to have any more contact with drug court staff, but acknowledged that the program helped to “get the ball rolling” and provide the support that was needed.
During his time on the program, Dave only breached his bail conditions once. The sentence he received for his most serious offence was 18 months probation without conviction. This was a long way from the two years which he expected to receive in the absence of the program. While Dave does not appear in official records as having offended since leaving the program, he admitted to taking part in some criminal activity since the previous interview. While the details were not revealed, he was adamant that they were “nothing like my old charges.”
‘Claire’
Claire entered the YDC program when she was 17. She is an Aboriginal young woman and a State ward. She developed a heroin problem at the age of 13. This escalated at the age of 15 and she had her first court appearance at 14. Claire was only on the program for four months and self-terminated after this time. She felt primarily that she wanted to get her sentence out of the way. Claire came to the program with a string of offences, including larceny, robbery, common assault and malicious damage.
Claire had experiences of four different residential rehabilitation program while involved in the YDC program. She left the first program straight after the assessment.
She returned to the same rehabilitation centre, but left again – this time after only three hours. On the third occasion she had a more positive experience of a different center located outside Sydney. Claire indicated that she had good relationships with
the workers there and experienced real moments of inner peace. She also was able to experience a long period without drugs, which she found very positive.
I haven’t been that straight for so long. All of last year I didn’t give myself a break.
However, Claire was eventually discharged from the centre after apparently having difficulties with some of the residents. After writing to the centre she was accepted back, but she felt that the situation had changed and no longer felt comfortable around the worker who been responsible for her discharge. Claire left the rehabilitation centre of her own volition and was picked up by the police two weeks later. Concern that she was going to be put back into custody despite not having committed any offences was part of the reason that Claire decided to abscond rather than wait for drug court staff to pick her up.
Claire’s drug use decreased while on the program, but her opportunities for using drugs were limited by the amount of time she spent in custody.
Although Claire did not complete the YDC program, she felt that it had been of some benefit to her. She was very concerned about her drug use prior to the program, and was pleased that the program had given her a glimpse of a different life. However, she also believed that she had not been entirely ready to give everything up: “For a long time it’s just been my life”.
One of the biggest issues for Claire was that she felt that rehabilitation was not the best option for her and could not understand why the drug court program seemed to be based mainly on rehabilitation and little else. Because of this she felt that she had not had a lot of say in the content of her case plan. Claire reported finding it hard to be in one place and to live in a structured environment.
I’d lived my life for so long by myself and just done what I want to that it was hard living by other people’s rules.
She also felt that not enough was available in the rehabilitation programs to stimulate her mind and occupy her time. She believed that more educational opportunities should have been available.
While Claire was grateful for the support that she received while on the program she also felt that she would have liked more contact with drug court workers.
Claire was clear that she felt that she had let the program down and that because this was continually the case she felt that leaving the program was the right decision for her.
I’d just had enough of going to rehab and leaving and letting the drug court down because they had a lot of faith in me and wanted me to get off the drugs. I just kept taking advantage of it. I felt bad going back to the court, facing them and expecting another chance.
The first interview with Claire took place at the female Juvenile Detention Centre.
Despite not completing the program, or a residential rehabilitation placement, Claire indicated that she was confident that she could remain drug free in the community.
For her the YDC had helped in that it had showed her about the harms caused by drugs and also the possibility of a different life that she had not known for years. She felt that she had had more control in her life this year – more controlled drug use and no offending.
While she was on the program Claire breached her bail conditions on six occasions.
On four of these occasions she was arrested on warrant, and each time found herself back in custody while she awaited other rehabilitation placements. On the other two occasions Claire was charged with new matters.
In total Claire was on the program for 113 days and of those spent 94 in custody. As she had already served a significant amount of any possible sentence this affected her motivation for continuing on the program. After leaving the program Claire was sentenced to an 18-month bond with supervision for many of the offences she was charged with prior to entry onto the program. For the charges of aggravated and non-aggravated robbery she received a sentence of five months juvenile detention.
‘Andrew’
Andrew also identifies as Aboriginal and has had a lengthy involvement with cannabis that began at the age of 15. The frequency and intensity of his offending increased when he began to engage in the use of amphetamines, which he started using daily when he was 16. Offences for which Andrew was referred to the program included armed robbery, malicious damage, common assault and break and enter.
Andrew had eight charges on entering the program. His program assessment identified a need to work on anger management.
At the time of the first interview Andrew had recently extended his time on the program.
Like many YDC participants Andrew was in Cobham detention centre before coming onto the program. His assessment took place while he was in custody.
Andrew completed a three-month residential rehabilitation program, during which time he was discharged several times for episodes of violence and relapse. He also spent a period of time in a refuge. Once he had completed residential rehab he was allowed to live in the community with his father, with whom relations had improved.
While in the community Andrew attended TAFE courses run at Liverpool IPU. He reported continuing Year 9 work at home with the help of his father. Andrew also took part in recreational activities, including camps organised by Vitel.
Andrew was working at increasing his fitness by attending the gym and had a personal instructor. While on the program he also had an operation to remove pins from his leg, the results of a previous car accident.
Andrew admitted to having a continuing cannabis problem, as he uses cannabis to cope with stressful situations. However, his use of amphetamines has decreased substantially, though he admitted to relapsing two or three months previously with another drug court participant.
Andrew identified on of the primary motivating factors for entering the program to be a desire to improve relations with his family. This has been a positive outcome for Andrew and relations with his father had improved considerably. His father has been able to see a big improvement in his son’s attitude, and they were now living together after a period of four or five years with no communication.
Andrew expressed mixed views about the groups that he had been involved in while on the program. He felt that the offenders’ group was very beneficial, but was frustrated by what he saw as the repetitiveness of the alcohol and drugs groups.
Having already been through a residential rehabilitation program, he felt the content of those groups was already familiar.
He did not feel ready to leave the supported environment of the program after six months and had been on the program for nine months at the time of the first interview.
He suspected that if he had left after six months he would have returned almost immediately to a life of crime and drugs. This was the case even though the program had been much harder work than he had anticipated.
Andrew appreciated the informality of the court, and the way that the whole picture is looked at when decisions are made.
They don’t just look at one page and say “lock him up”. They look at the whole thing – that’s what I like about it.
The support for him was what made the difference. Having someone that he felt he could talk to was very important.
His main grievance at the time of the first interview was that he felt that his second extension on the program had been involuntary.
I had a bad time at court the other day as I felt they were making me extend without really telling me shit.
Since the first interview Andrew has graduated from the program. At the time of the interview he had independently enrolled himself on a TAFE course directly related to a particular interest he has. He was philosophical about his chances of relapse at the end of the program.
I feel confident yes and no at the moment about doing all right after the end of the program – just a matter of putting theory into practice.
I should be all right.
Andrew did not breach his bail conditions or offend while on the program and has no offences on record since graduating. Andrew received a sentence of six months bond with supervision for the offences he committed before entering the program.
‘Tracey’
Tracey was one of the youngest Youth Drug Court participants in the interview group.
She was 15 when she entered the program and was a State ward. Tracey first used heroin, including by injection, when she was 13. Tracey was on the program for a full year and was the first female graduate.
Before coming onto the program Tracey had charges of armed robbery, standovers, shoplifting, and several of breaking and entering. Most of these charges had been dealt with prior to entering the YDC program, but there were some outstanding and she was in danger of facing a control order.
Tracey was living in a foster placement in the month before she came onto the
Tracey was living in a foster placement in the month before she came onto the