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Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 2

covered by the drug court, either the federal grant funding or through the state allocation. The steering committee
has secured money for security deposits for housing. We have a fund that purchases incentives for people as
rewards in the drug court. We have been able to get a scholarship fund at the community college so that some of
our participants are able to access their higher education. We are community members. There’s seven of us:
myself, Mr. Monahan, who is the chair, Marylou Blaisdell, whom you all know, is with me here tonight, Torry Hack,
Jim Tollner, Jay Leonard, are all members of the steering committee.

What we would like to do tonight is tell you how the drug court works from the inside. Alderman Tencza, who used
to be on the drug court team, has the best knowledge in this room about what it is like from the inside and what the
parameters are for people to participate. Also with us is Julie Christianson Collins. She is the coordinator hired to
coordinate the drug court, to keep the trains running on time to keep everybody on track. She is also here to
answer any questions. David can tell you what happens on a day-to-day basis.

Alderman Tencza

As Senator Gilmour mentioned, | was on the Drug Court Team when it started here in Nashua. Back in 2014 is
when it really got up and running. As part of that the whole team attended local and national trainings to be
prepared to implement the drug court model locally. We have some slides prepared. One of the things | wanted
to let everyone know is | think there’s misperception about drug court that drug court is appropriate for people who
are just starting off in the criminal justice system and who may need some extra services to ensure that they don’t
continue in the criminal justice system. The Drug Court model is actually the exact opposite of that. The model is
you take the most high risk offenders, you take the people who are in most need of drug treatment and try to get
them this intense supervision and intense judicial intervention so they are rehabilitated to the point where they are
not continuing to commit crimes in our community, they are healthier and we are all safer because of that. We
also have Tina Smart here tonight who is a lifelong resident of Nashua who is a graduate of the Drug Court
program. Tina will be able to speak a lot more eloquently about the impacts that drugs have on individuals who go
through the program.

| think the other thing to point out too is what the city is doing now with the Safe Station’s and the various other
programs, the Mayor's Opioid Task Force, is very complimentary to what the drug court is doing. It serves a
much different population thought. Why drug court? 80% of offenders abuse drugs or alcohol. Nearly 50% of
jail and prison inmates are clinically addicted, it’s these additions, the substance abuse that is bringing them
back into the criminal justice system. About 60 percent of the individuals arrested test positive for illicit drugs,
and 60 to 80 percent of drug abusers commit a new crime after release from incarceration. Folks who are
addicted aren’t deterred by jail sentences. Sometimes a jail sentence is the easiest thing for them to do to get
off the street to get clean. It is easier to stay clean in jail. Once you are clean a lot of people have good
intentions about coming out and remaining clean, but it’s a much different situation when they are placed back
into the communities, back into the environments that led them to commit crimes and do drugs. | don’t think
anyone would argue there’s not a need for intense supervision especially now in our communities.

This is a participant, not from Nashua, in a drug court. You will see a booking photo of her. There is another
picture at the end of her completion of drug court later on in the presentation. The Drug court model ensures
compliance with treatment, significantly lower treatment dropout rates compared with non-judicially supervised
treatment. The way the drug court works is once someone pleas into drug court, it is typically someone who is
going to serve a state prison sentence, meaning a sentence longer than 12 months at the House of Correction.
They are going to go to the state prison in Concord or Berlin if they are a man. If they are a woman, they are
going to go to the state prison in Goffstown for now. They are going to serve these sentences because they
have been through the system so much because they are committing not necessarily petty crimes but
essentially non-violent crimes, but they are committing them all the time. The people who we see have their
names in the paper for third-strike thefts over and over and over again or burglaries, a lot of property crimes,
drug possession, things like that.

Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 3

These are the folks that the normal means of the criminal justice system hasn’t worked for them. They have
been on probation. They have gone through the system, they have been incarcerated and it is still not
working. The difference between drug court and regular probation is this idea of judicial supervision.

When someone comes into the drug court, they are required to do treatment; they are required to do probation.
The treatment consists not only of drug treatment but also could consist of mental health treatment. We know
a lot of folks who have drug issues also have co-occurring mental health disorders. The drug court seeks to
treat both of those issues in a way that is helpful to each participant. In order to make sure they are being
where they are supposed to be and to make sure they are doing everything they are supposed to do, they
have to meet with the judge once a week. | believe it is still Tuesday afternoons that everyone meets at the
drug court. The sessions are open to the public. Anytime you are interested in seeing how it works on a week-
to-week basis, please stop by at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. You can sit in and see how folks are doing on a
week-to-week basis.

Every week before the drug court session, the judge meets with the entire team and they talk about how folks
are doing, whether they have been compliant with all of their treatment, whether they have stayed cleaned.
They are also randomly drug tested throughout the week. It could be as few as two times, but it could be more
than that. The key is that it is a random drug test so they don’t know when it is coming. All of this is done
through Community Council out on Amherst Street. Every week, the judge will tell them whether they have
been compliant with their treatment or whether they haven’t been compliant. If they are not compliant, they
receive some type of sanction. They could be non-compliant for being late or missing treatment in which case
the sanction is you have to show up early for a treatment for the next week for 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes, half an
hour. They could be non-compliant because they used drugs throughout the week and they were caught in a
drug test. Even worse, they could have used drugs and lied about it. That is something that gets sanctioned
pretty harshly because one of the things the judge wants to see is that people are being honest with not just
the judge but the whole team. If someone has used, and there’s going to be relapses, but if someone relapses
the team wants to address the underlying causes why they used. Just drug use may not get a harsh sanction.
It may get more of a treatment response in the beginning. The idea is to build trust and let people know that
the drug court team is there to help them but if their drug use continues to be a problem and they are not
honest about it then the judge is there to hold them accountable.

The national studies show that drug court reduces crime by as much as 45 percent more than other
alternatives like probationary or just strict incarceration. Incarcerating someone without giving them the help
that they need is not going to ensure their success once they are released back into the community. Drug
courts also save money as compared to just strict incarceration. Studies show $1.00 invested saves as much
as $3.36 in criminal justice costs alone. When you consider a lot of studies will say that it costs about $30,000
to $35,000 to incarcerate an inmate for a year, you will see that the $8,000 per participant that it costs to treat
people in drug court and supervise them within the community is a great savings to the county and the state
and locally here.

| talked about a lot of these. It’s a multi Multi-disciplinary team approach. The Nashua Police Department has
been very helpful with the Hillsborough County Drug Court. When it first started, Deputy Chief Kernigan was
on the drug court team. Lieutenant Rourke, when he was a lieutenant, was also a very active participant of the
team. Lieutenant Kenney is now on the team that meets once a week. | think that’s been a huge part of
Nashua Drug Court’s success, having not only Nashua police involved but also Hudson Police as well.
Nashua’s police have provided resources to do things like home checks on participants. The POPP unit every
once in a while and randomly on a Thursday show up on someone’s doorstep to see how they are doing. They
have plenty of other work to do so it’s appreciated that they have devoted time to the drug court. It’s a good
way for a lot of participants to interact with police on a different level than they are used to. | think if the
Nashua police were here they would say it is a worthwhile endeavor for them.

Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 4

Community Counsel are the therapists that are part of our team. There are also case managers that are part
of the team. Program coordinators are part of the team. Judge Jacalyn Colburn is the drug court judge here in
Nashua.

If someone is compliant during the week, they get an incentive. The incentive can be something as small as
just a round of applause from everyone who attends the drug court that week, which for some people, is a little
pat on the back, a little pick me up and its helpful for them to get through their next week without using. There
are other incentives that have been developed as small as a candy bar. Once they have four weeks of full
compliance, they are incentivized to choose from other incentives such as gift cards that have been donated.
Everyone who goes through drug court has to pay dues of $20 a week to help defray the costs of the program.
The big prize used to be $80 off your dues which a lot of people appreciated. They are not big, but as Peg
Gilmour mentioned there are a lot of other ways that the drug court is able to help participants going through
the program with scholarships or potentially funds for housing.

In order to graduate drug court, someone has to have all of their restitution paid off for all of their underlying
charges and any loans to the drug court has to be paid back as well. One of the things that case managers do
is they work with folks on general life skils. Things like how to get an apartment or a job or pay down your debt
which is helpful to them.

These are someone the numbers that the Hillsborough County Adult Drug Court has seen in Nashua since it
started back in 2014: 115 participants — 66% male, 34% female, 36 graduates — 67% male, 33% female; 89%
of graduates employed at graduation; 44% of graduates participated in an educational or vocational activity
(HISET classes, Nashua Community College or other vocational training). The program is generally about 18
months long. 18 months is probably on the lower end of things, some may stay longer for about two years. As
they go through the program, their requirements aren't as stringent if they are doing well throughout the
program.

The mug shot of the woman at the beginning of the presentation, this is her at her drug court graduation. One
of the things they say about drug court is it really is a family court because so many of the folks who come
through do have family members. A lot of them are estranged from their family members when they start drug
court because of all the issues that they have gone through and the trust issues and the lack of trust that has
developed between them and their families. Once they get clean and start doing what they are supposed to
be doing, to their family credit, trust builds back up and they are able to reconnect with parents, children and
have that part of their life back which is great.

There is currently about 50 people in drug court right now. The drug court was originally funded by federal
grants. One of them was a grant by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The other was a grant by from the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. Recently the state has decided that they are going to
fund drug court throughout the state so there is some uniformity among the counties. Part of this was spurred
because Hillsborough County would not commit to funding the drug court here in Hillsborough County. Luckily
the state did step us, and now we have a program that we are hoping to expand to about 75 participants which
would be great because, again, there is definitely a need.

| was in front of the judge the other day. She said there’s a wait list of about 20 people to get into drug court
just here in Nashua. There’s also been a push because every county now has a drug court. It’s easier to
transfer. If someone is arrested in Nashua but they live in Manchester or out in Rockingham County, it’s easy
to transfer them out there and put them in the county from where they are from. We're also hoping to
strengthen gender-specific treatment to better serve female participants. In Merrimack County all of their
treatment is done separately. The men are treated in one location and the women are treated in another
location. Other than court, | don’t think they interact much which is probably a best practice.

Finally, another way that the city has been helpful and the drug court can support what the city is doing is
there’s a lot of participants who once they get done the program want to help and give back to the community

Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 5

and the recovery community. The board recently funded a one year at Rivive Recovery for a recovery coach
coordinator to train other recovery coaches. | know there are several drug court participants who are
interested in being training and becoming a recovery coach for other people who are struggling. Hopefully
those folks who are not at the level where they need drug court supervision at this point but hopefully can get
the resources they need within the community and get over their addiction before it gets to the point of drug
court.

Now | am going to introduce Tina Smart to talk a little bit about her experience in drug court and the impact it
has had on her. | do have some brochures and materials that | will pass around for folks to look at.

Tina Smart

Pretty much since 1984 is when | first started getting into trouble. | was experimenting with drugs, alcohol,
hanging around the wrong people. | just didn’t have any direction in my life. | just continuously did the same
thing over and over and over until | started getting into more serious trouble and growing up and started selling
drugs, using drugs. Even when | was pregnant with my first son, | used drugs. | was just a mess growing up, |
really was. | felt lost like | didn’t fit in anywhere. | wasn’t really part of my family because | chose not to be. |
felt like an outsider everywhere. | just kind of went wherever | went and the more | did things, the worse | put
myself into situations. | started going into prisons back in 87. | think it was back in 87 when | was pregnant
with my first son, | had my first felony. | got a one year and day to four in Goffstown State Prison. Because |
was locked up for a little while, | got clean and everything but when | came out | still had all of the same
behaviors and the same everything. When | got out | stayed clean for a little while, but | went right back into
the same thing. It was the only thing | knew. That continued pretty much my whole life.

| was doing the same thing over and over and over. Then at points | would actually look forward to going into
prison so | could recuperate my body, my mind and get more strength so | could get out and go do the same
thing all over again because that’s all | knew. This last time, in 2015, | got arrested again. That was like my
third strike in New Hampshire, to be honest, but | have many other cases in others — Mass, Florida, every
where | went! got arrested. | had three warrants when | got arrested in New Hampshire in 2015. Because of
drugs, | wasn’t able to show up because | had to go get so | wouldn't be sick.

When | got arrested in 2015, again | was looking at going to prison and for some reason something inside of
me this time | was tired. | was really tired of the way | lived my life, 35 years out there running the streets like
crazy trying to get clean a little bit here, a little bit there but | never really understood it or knew how to stay
clean and how to change because | only knew one way. When | was offered the drug court program, | really
didn’t know what | was getting myself into but | said something has to give here. Something. That’s when |
accepted the drug court. On June 10, 2015, | was sentenced. | will still lost and confused but | said | was
going to do what | got to do. At least if | don’t do anything, |’ll make it through because when | start something |
manage to make it through one way or the other.

The first six months of drug court | was unsure, | didn’t? know. | noticed behaviors in me that were being
pointed out to me from one of the case workers that | was working with, Leslie. She is a tremendous woman.
She pointed things out in me that | would get defensive. | would just get really defensive right away because
those my behaviors and | didn’t want to face them, but she helped me face things that | needed to face. Being
defensive, my body movement and everything, would really show that | needed to change the way | was acting
and feeling and not be afraid to start learning how to truly live a different life because | really truly didn’t know
how. | started listening and paying attention and started participating not just to get through the program
anymore, | really wanted to change my life. At one point, | said get through it; it’s better than going to jail but
then my attitude changed that | don’t have it in me to be in jail anymore. | just don’t. | did what | had to do to
change my behavior.

Today my life, I’m a little emotional right now, | have almost three years clean and | have gone through
schooling. | have a good job today. | had been living on SSI since 2005. I’m not on SSI anymore because |

Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 6

chose not to. | am very capable of doing all the good things that | can do for myself and my life. | have my
family in my life. | have one of my sons living with me that | never really had a chance to raise him as a child
because of drugs. But! have him with me today. Drug Court taught me how to live without the use of drugs
and how to change behaviors without getting defensive and admitting and being honest. And he is right, being
honest is really a huge part of drug court because if you can’t be honest with yourself and people around you
then what is the point? Being honest wasn’t part of my journey growing up. | was always manipulating, lying,
stealing, whatever | had to do to get what | had to get. Being honest was really a huge part of that program.

| had a few incentives but! got in trouble one time because for the first six months, | was still drinking alcohol
but wasn't really noticing that | was doing it. It was a normal thing. | never had a dirty urine for drugs, | never
relapsed, but | never stopped drinking either. When | finally got caught, my urine came back once with alcohol,
that’s when the actual lightbulb went off in my head that | can’t drink. What am | doing to myself? That will get
me caught back up into other things that | don’t want to be caught back up into. That’s when | really truly
started really working and changing my life. | had to go to Valley Street for that one night and | said this is not
where | want to be anymore. | just felt like a total loser when that happened to me. | just felt so humiliated. |
don’t have to feel like that anymore. | really started really truly working that program, and it has given me such
a life today that | could never see myself getting arrested or going to jail.

| have associated with the police department. | have respect for them today. They respect me today. That
feels really good. | could drive down the street in my car, and | don’t’ have to feel paranoid if there’s a cop
behind me. If there’s a cop behind me, I’m out there waving at him because that’s who | am today. | am a
good person. I’ve gotten to know who | am and what | like and what | can do. | have a good job. | work with
TruGreen. | have good benefits. | have a good life today. | do a lot of sponsoring other women in recovery. |
also work with one of the women in the drug court. | try to mentor and | stay participating in the drug court
even though | graduated. | will do whatever | can to be there for them. They just totally changed my life
tremendously.

My life is good today. That’s pretty much it. Stick with the Drug Court. It’s worth it.

Alderman Wilshire

| just want to say thank you, Tina. I’ve known Tina her whole life and right now, today, | am very proud of you.
Ms. Gilmour

Thank you for inviting us in to share what the Drug Court is about. It happens here in Nashua every Tuesday.
| think it would be a great field trip to come and see the power. Believe me, you do not want to go before
Judge Colburn every week. In fact when | got here a little early, Tina was already here. | said you’re early.
She said, | learned that from Judge Colburn. Just a heads up, we are going to ask for CDBG funds next year.

This is just a preamble to that ask so be thinking about that and certainly will entertain any questions you have.

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

Thank you, and Tina, thank you and congratulations. Judge Colburn was here maybe a year after the Drug
Court started. She came and presented. At that time, she spoke about the incentives and people wanting to
make donations. Could you maybe share with us for people who are listening who would like to make a
monetary donation or a gift cards, how they would go about doing that?

Julie Christiansen
| am at the Court House. You can contact me through the court house for gift cards and things like that.

Friends of New Hampshire Drug Court is a 501(cc)(3) organization throughout the State of New Hampshire.
They have a website. They accept monetary donations that go to fund drug court programming that is non-

Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 7

operational, like the incentive programs, loans that we give out if someone needs help with their first month’s
rent. If somebody were interested in donating, they could donate to the Friends of New Hampshire Drug Court
if they wanted to market for Hillsborough South or if they wanted to just go state-wide, they could choose to do
that.

Alderman Tencza
Can you let the Board know the percentage of people in Drug Court now who are from Nashua?
Ms. Christiansen

A little tiny bit less than 75 percent of our participants live in Nashua, with the remaining living in the outlining
areas: Hudson, Merrimack, Milford, Hollis. It’s a little hard to tell how many come from Nashua, but | would
say the majority are from Nashua. Some people from Nashua actually end up living in the outlining areas so |
would say it’s about *% of our participants at the moment.

Alderman Jette
Someone said the state has stepped up. Is the program funded now? Is it financially secure?
Ms. Christiansen

We still have some funding through SAMHSA who we are about a half paid for by the state and half through
SAMHSA. The state funding supports some therapeutic time , case management and the program coordinator
position. It supports the basics of the programs, but there are things that we would be looking to do like
partnering to get more recovery coaches trained. We don’t have funding for that type of thing from the state.

Ms. Gilmour

One of the things we have talked about is if we could get private funding or donated funding to do something
gender specific like a women’s group as Dave talked about. They have found that gender specific treatment
opportunities can be beneficial, particularly for women.

Mayor Donchess

| thought it was a great presentation. Thanks for coming in. It’s obviously a great program. Tina has done a
great job. It’s really wonderful to see one of the big success stories. | did have one question: | there any
follow up in terms of seeing how people are doing after graduation, six months or a year later, to see if they are
still successful? My guess is that they are and that is a very powerful argument for the effectiveness of the
program.

Alderman Tencza

As part of the grant funding, a lot of those statistics have to be kept. I’m not sure if the state will continue to do
that once it is all state funded.

Ms. Christiansen

One of the things the Drug Court looks at is the recidivism rate of the people that go through the drug court. It
is usually measured at one year out and three years out. The state has actually contracted with a research
and evaluation agency that is doing a study state-wide. We're also going to be collecting that data. Right now
we don’t’ have a whole lot of people who have been out more than a year, but we will be collecting that and the
recidivism rate.

Special Bd. of Aldermen — 02/27/2017 Page 8
Alderman Tencza

| Know the graduation rate in Nashua is about 60 percent. The highest performing drug courts across the
country have about a 60 percent graduation rate, so the program here is high performing. As far a recidivism
rates, Julie can talk more about it than | can, but the studies show that even if somebody participates in the
drug court but doesn’t full complete it, the recidivism rates for those folks is also lower than if they had just
gone through the traditional criminal justice responses to the system, meaning probation or incarceration.

Mayor Donchess

Just from what | Know of the area, any program that can keep 60 percent of people clean for two years is
remarkably successful.

Ms. Christiansen

There has been a tremendous amount of research on drug courts over the last 25 years. They have been able
to identify wnat components of drug courts are effective at promoting recovery and reducing criminal
recidivism. We really focus on sticking to those elements that have been shown and proven to be successful.
We feel pretty confident. | think research has shown that drug courts, the recidivism rate is far lower than it is
for traditional criminal justice programs like prison.

Alderman Jette

This is on the superior court level. My memory is that Judge Leary in the Circuit Court District Division, as it is
now called, started a drug court.

Alderman Tencza

There’s a mental health court for folks who are struggling specifically with mental health issues, which is run
through the circuit court, the district court. There’s also a veterans court which is somewhat similar. Again, in
order to be eligible for drug court, the participants have to undergo two screenings. They have to show that
they are a high risk to reoffend, meaning commit new crimes. They also have to show that they are a high
need for substance abuse treatment. Someone who is just at the district court is most likely not going to meet
either of those criteria. The other research for drug courts show that if you put someone who is not high risk to
reoffend, who is not high need for treatment in with the high risk population, you are actually going to make that
lower risk person worse. The high risk people are going to rub off on that person who is why when | started the
presentation | said that it is not for the folks who are struggling and it’s not for the folks who are just coming into
the criminal justice system for the first time. VVe don’t want to put them in with the drug court participants they
are hopefully going to be able to be managed by other means than this intense program.

Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja

If you have this handout electronically, can it be sent to Ms. Lovering so it can be attached to our minutes
because it has your contact information. Thank you.

President McCarthy

Any other comments? Thank you very much. Is there a motion?

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION BY ALDERMAN WILSHIRE TO ADJOURN

SPECIAL BOARD OF ALDERMEN

FEBRUARY 27, 2018

6:30 PM Aldermanic Chamber

PRESIDENT BRIAN S. MCCARTHY CALLS ASSEMBLY TO ORDER
PRAYER OFFERED BY CITY CLERK PATRICIA D. PIECUCH
PLEDGE TO THE FLAG LED BY ALDERMAN JAN SCHMIDT

ROLL CALL

COMMUNICATIONS

From: Brian S. McCarthy, President, Board of Aldermen
Re: Special Board of Aldermen Meeting

ADJOURNMENT

Board of Aldermen
City of Nashua
229 Main Street

Nashua, NH 03061-2019
(603) 589-3030

Brian S. McCarthy

President, Board of Aldermen

February 2, 2018

Patricia D. Piecuch, City Clerk
City of Nashua

229 Main Street

Nashua, NH 03061-2019

Dear Ms. Piecuch:

Please be advised | am hereby calling a Special Meeting of the Board of Aldermen for Tuesday,
February 27, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Members of the Drug Court Steering
Committee will be in attendance to give a presentation on the Hillsborough South Drug Court.

Thank you.

A.

Brian A> Jb Inchon President

cc: Mayor Jim Donchess

Steven A. Bolton, Corporation Counsel

R-18-014
Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
RELATIVE TO THE TRANSFER OF UP TO $50,000 FROM DEPARTMENT 194 — CONTINGENCY,
ACCOUNT 70150 — CONTINGENCY, NEGOTIATIONS INTO VARIOUS SALARIES & WAGES

ACCOUNTS
NEW BUSINESS — ORDINANCES
O-18-008

Endorser: Mayor Jim Donchess
REVISIONS TO THE PERSONNEL CHAPTER OF THE ORDINANCES AND THE MERIT PLAN

PERIOD FOR GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Committee announcements:

ADJOURNMENT