Daniel Spinney began using meth at 17 years old.
More than two decades later, his drug use landed him in the Cobb County jail, where he faced felony charges. But he was given a second chance through the drug treatment court, an accountability court program that gives nonviolent criminal offenders access to a strict rehabilitation program in lieu of traditional sentencing.
“I didn’t look at drug court as a punishment; I looked at it as a tool to help me be a better person, to be the father I needed to be,” Spinney said during a speech at a recent event celebrating the program. “They’re giving you a chance instead of going to prison, because so many of us get lost in the system.”
Now, Spinney is nearly eight years sober and works at The Zone helping others in recovery for substance use.
Cobb County’s drug treatment court has been helping people like Spinney for 20 years now. The superior court celebrated the program’s anniversary in October with those who helped create it, community partners, and graduates.
When the drug treatment court first launched in 2003, it was still a relatively novel idea. The criminal justice system had long been punishing illegal drug users, perpetuating the cycle of addiction, jail time, and poverty.
“The prosecution mindset was that people who commit crimes need to be punished,” said Grady Moore, a former prosecutor for the Cobb drug treatment court. “To have an idea that maybe the justice system, the court system, and particularly the prosecuting attorney should have a role in helping someone who has committed a felony was a very foreign idea.”
The treatment-oriented accountability court is designed to help individuals recover from substance use and restore their lives. Participants go through substance use treatment and counseling, abide by strict rules and weekly drug testing, and appear in court weekly to monitor their progress over the course of 18 to 24 months.
Participants also receive assistance with housing, employment, transportation, and other services as needed. The first three months of the program are free, and the participants pay $30 per week for the remainder. Those who break the program’s strict rules risk going back to jail and facing their original charges. If they graduate, their charges can be reduced, dropped or expunged.
“The greatest thing that drug court provided to me is just another chance, and at 40, I didn’t think I would have it,” Spinney said.
The program has had 706 graduates in 20 years. But not everyone who begins the program makes it through. The drug treatment court’s graduation rate is 53% from 2014 to 2023, according to data provided by the superior court. That data only goes back to 2014 because that is when the court began using a digital case management system.
“That’s 700 members of our community who were facing prison time but instead changed their lives,” said Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs, who currently oversees the drug court.
Georgia had 171 accountability courts last year, 53 of which are adult drug courts, according to the most recent report by the Council of Accountability Court Judges. The other programs target mental health, families, veterans, juveniles, and DUIs.
Miami-Dade County in Florida is credited with creating the first drug treatment court in the nation in 1989. Since then, they have become widespread: the U.S. has over 4,000 drug treatment courts, with at least one in every state, according to the National Treatment Court Resource Center.
Studies conducted by the National Institute of Justice show that drug courts reduce recidivism, meaning those who graduate from the program are significantly less likely to end up back in jail than their counterparts.
“We do see it, day in and day out: drug courts work,” said Porsha Middlebrook, the program coordinator.
While drug court has been shown to impact communities by reducing recidivism, it also changes the graduates and their families for the better. Spinney said when he graduated from the program, his daughter stood up in the courtroom and said: “Thank you for giving me my father back.”
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