GREENFIELD — Dozens of court officials and Family Wellness Court graduates convened at the Franklin County Justice Center on Tuesday afternoon to tout the initiative’s merits and share success stories upon the program’s 10th anniversary.
Family Wellness Court is a specialized, voluntary court session at the Franklin Probate and Family Court that is designed to help families affected by parental substance use disorder.
John Merrigan, the register of probate who handles the Franklin Probate and Family Court’s scheduling, started the event by praising the program’s focus on rehabilitation over incarceration.
“You know, [the] Justice Center really symbolizes a lot [more] than just the crime-and-punishment approach,” he said. “It’s a place where people can come for support, for help. Victims are treated with respect. Everybody who walks through the door is treated with respect.”
Heidi Brieger, chief justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court, took to the podium and began her remarks by saying the beauty and tranquility of western Massachusetts is always a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of Boston.
“I get calmer and calmer the closer I get to this part of the world. So you should all know how lucky you are — I’m sure you do — to live here,” she said. “On behalf of all the judges … of the Trial Court, I congratulate each and every one of you for having done what is really hard to do, which is to take a great idea and make it last for 10 years. Lots of great ideas get born; not a lot of great ideas turn 10, and so I really want to commend you all on that.”
Brieger said Family Wellness Court is based on the bold idea that problems can be addressed outside of a courtroom.
“It’s about an idea that says, basically, we don’t want judges. We want people to work together to make things happen, to make people better without judges telling them what they don’t want to hear,” she said. “Now, judges are critical to the process. I’m not saying they’re not, but this is a true testimony to the fact that nothing gets done by yourself.
“In order to make a family healthier, in order to make children safer, in order to make people avoid the kinds of negative events in a courtroom, it takes more than a judge to be involved,” Brieger continued.
One of the program’s goals is to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder by helping families understand that it is a manageable disease. If the parties agree to participate in the program following an arrest, the underlying case — custody, guardianship, divorce and/or visitation — is put on hold while the family member gets treatment.
A team, including the judge, a probation officer, a case manager, a clinician and a treatment provider, works together instead of fighting in a standard legal battle. Parents are guided through recovery steps while arranging safe child visitation that fits the children’s best interests, and families get help with community-based treatments, mental health care, medical needs, and basic life supports like housing and employment.
Judge Alexandra Flanders of Franklin Probate and Family Court explained that the program has graduated 70 adults who are parents to 134 children over the past 10 years.
Retired Judge Beth Crawford, described as the Family Wellness Court’s founder and architect, explained that she was appointed as the court’s first justice when Franklin County was in the midst of the opioid crisis.
“There were passionate people in our community who understood that we needed to work together to make things better,” she said, adding that one particular case moved court officials to treat the issue as a public health issue rather than a legal one.
Crawford explained that one day a grandmother came to court in tears and said she had to get home to meet her granddaughter’s school bus to tell the child that her mother had died of an overdose that morning.
“We realized we had to do something different at that point. I had been hearing these heart-wrenching cases. I was trained to make decisions to protect the child, and so what that meant was oftentimes telling the parent to come back when they were no longer using substances,” she said. “It became clear to me that this was no longer working. The day after this child’s mother died, we met to talk about what we could do.”
Court graduates Alice Fisher, Melanie Farr and Casey Wallner also spoke to express their appreciation for the program and explain how it has changed their lives.
Farr gave an emotional and tearful retelling of her journey, which started with critical help from her mother. She also praised all the people who helped her along the way.
“Each person supported me in a different way. Some challenged me when I needed to be challenged. Some encouraged me when I was struggling. Some simply listened when I needed someone to understand,” she said. “The other participants were especially important, because they understood what it was like to go through this process. There is something powerful about being surrounded by people who are also working to change their lives. We could celebrate each other’s successes, learn from each other’s struggles and remind each other we were not alone.”
Farr said her journey was filled with struggle, setbacks, frustration and uncertainty. She had to learn to be patient with other people and with herself.
“One of the biggest things I learned was acceptance. I learned that I couldn’t control everything that happened around me. I couldn’t control every decision that was made, every situation I was placed in or how other people responded to me,” she said. “What I could control was how I responded. I could keep showing up. I could keep doing the work. I could keep moving forward, even when I didn’t understand why things were happening the way they were.”
Farr said the program taught her that strength can mean allowing herself to be vulnerable.
“Sometimes growth looks like sitting in front of a room reading the most vulnerable parts of yourself out loud,” she said, “crying through the words and still choosing to keep going.”
