Hall drug program a model for White County
September 21, 2007
 by Dean Dyer/WRWH
CLEVELAND - A Family Drug Court could soon be set up in the Enotah Judicial Circuit to help better deal with the family drug situation in the area. That information, along with a better insight into how the courts, law enforcement and local citizens are working to deal with drug and child abuse and other crimes, was revealed during a forum held Monday in Cleveland.Enotah Superior Court Judge Lynn Alderman announced a program she and Juvenile Court Judge David Turk are working on to help better address the drug cases that come before them. Alderman said they will be working with the Department of Family and Children Services on this program the goes beyond what they are now offering giving those seeking treatment up to 24 months to kick the addiction. Alderman says this program is modeled after similar programs in Hall and other counties. In addition to Alderman, others on the panel were Juvenile Judge David Turk, Susan Zealy, Enotah CASA Director , White County Sheriff Neal Walden, Sharon Lee and Milisa Fincher with the White County Meth Task Force. Zealy told the group that in White County right now they have 43 open cases of child abuse that involves 65 children and they need additional CASA volunteers to be advocates for these children in court. |
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A fond farewell: Counselor turns seminarian and gets roasted at fundraiser
September 17, 2007
By STEPHEN GURR
The Times
GAINESVILLE
Scott Rogers The Times
Judge Jason Deal, right, roasts Michael Devine, left, as Devine was seated on stage alongside his wife, Kit, during Tuesday night’s Friends of Recovery Banquet at First Presbyterian Church
Michael Devine’s life took a few twists and turns before he ended up as the guest of honor at a banquet Tuesday night.Devine, who was director of treatment services for Hall County’s drug and DUI courts before entering seminary at Emory University two weeks ago, spent most of the night wearing his trademark smile as he was alternately praised and roasted by a panel of Hall County judges and prosecutors during a farewell fundraiser.
Devine, 46, later spoke openly of his life as a recovering addict, who at 25 was snorting an “eight-ball” (one-eighth of an ounce) of methamphetamine a week and drinking up to a case of beer a day when he tried to commit suicide.
“It’s an amazing gift for me to be here,” said Devine, clean and sober since March 1990. “You can’t come to this place without God’s help.”
Devine was lauded Tuesday as a counselor who offered addicts in the local judicial system hope through his own story of recovery and redemption. He turned skeptics of drug court into believers, Superior Court Judge Jason Deal said.
“I went from looking at it as a hug-a-thug program to really becoming involved in drug court because of Mike,” Deal said.
Said Court Administrator Reggie Forrester, “Mike has shown you can take the rustiest nail in the barnyard, and with enough care make it shine as much as any nail in the cabinet.”
Devine didn’t make it through the night without considerable ribbing.
Hall County Solicitor-General Larry Baldwin, poking fun at Devine’s penchant for writing long-winded policy manuals, commented, “when Mike quit, a local paper mill went out of business.”
Tuesday’s event was held at First Presbyterian Church as a fundraiser for Friends of Recovery, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping recovering addicts who have gone through Hall County’s various accountability courts. The group focuses on drug and DUI court participants who don’t have a support network of family or friends to help them stay clean and sober, Friends of Recovery chairwoman Stephanie Woodard said.
“I can’t think of a better way to extend a hand of friendship to people who feel they have no friends,” Woodard said.
Losing Devine to a higher calling is tough to take, she said.
“He has such unique skills and perspective,” she said.
Baldwin seemed to be only half-joking when he said, “Mike truly may be irreplaceable. He put in his notice six months ago and we still haven’t found a replacement.”
Contact: sgurr@gainesvilletimes.com, (770) 718-3428.
Originally published Wednesday, September 12, 2007
