Sim Gill: Policing the police

Posted on March 8, 2012 by comm5775

by BILLY YANG

In the United States, we like to think we’re number one in everything we do. There’s one top ranking, however, that the land of the free should not be so proud of: The U.S. incarcerates the most people in world.

More than Russia, more than China — the U.S. has about 2.2 million people in prisons and jails today, according to the U.S Department of Justice.

The majority of people now held in those prisons fall into three groups, which include minorities, the poor and the mentally ill, said Salt Lake County District Attorney, Sim Gill.

Gill, who served as a prosecutor for Salt Lake City for 16 years before he was elected as Salt Lake County District Attorney in 2010, has largely focused on helping to relieve the legal system of the burden of being the largest mental health institution in the U.S.

“The largest, number one, mental health facility in America is the L.A. County Jail,” Gill said. “By default, we have made our jails and prisons the mental health warehouses of our community.”

As a proponent of alternatives to incarceration, and not being content with the status quo, Gill introduced the idea of Mental Health Court to Salt Lake City 10 years ago. There were only eight other similar programs in the country at the time.

“We [prosecutors and police] are here to solve problems, not just simply process and warehouse people,” Gill said.

The chronically homeless and people who are considered a public nuisance generally have some form of mental illness, Gill said. Because they come from lower economic backgrounds, they typically cannot afford medications to help them function in society.

“Drugs are a poor man’s form of self-medication,” Gill said.

The vicious cycle begins when the mentally ill turn to illicit drugs to alleviate symptoms of their disease, such as hearing voices in their heads. They take drugs, cause problems, get arrested and get released from jail, only to head back to square one.

“I know very few mentally ill people who wake up in the morning and say ‘let me see how many crimes I can go out and commit,’ ” Gill said. “Often, the criminal activity is a consequence of their mental illness.”

Gill’s model for Mental Health Court is part of what he calls therapeutic justice. Mental Health Court operates within Utah’s Third Judicial District and is an alternative to jail time for people with mental disorders who have been picked up by law enforcement. The program is completely voluntary, and seeks to provide participants with the help they need.

Mental Health Court targets people who have been charged with misdemeanors and felonies and have been identified with axis one disorders – such as schizophrenia, schizo-effective and bipolar disorders, conditions that can be treated with medication.

People who take part in this program have to maintain weekly contact with their assigned caseworker. This is to help ensure the participant is properly taking medication as prescribed.

“The number one reason why someone who’s mentally ill stops taking their medication… because they start feeling good,” Gill said.

By Gill’s own account, Mental Health Court has been a success. Gill uses the recidivism rate as a measure. Before the program was instituted, the recidivism rate for offenders with mental illness was 68 percent. After Mental Health Court took hold in Salt Lake County, that number dropped to 19 percent.

Another inequity Gill started to examine while he was a Salt Lake City prosecutor is the disproportionate number of minorities in prisons and jails.

Gill, the first Indian-born person to be elected a district attorney in the U.S., served on the Salt Lake Committee on Racial Justice when he was the city’s public prosecutor.

The committee conducted an audit of the prosecutor office as it related to its treatment of minorities. The panel did not find any statistical proof that minorities were unfairly prosecuted. But the audit revealed certain ethnic groups had an arrest rate five times higher than others.

Gill believes such evaluations of governmental agencies are important and sees them as ways to ensure justice is properly served. He also believes audits help identify areas for improvement.

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Mental health court offers refuge for repeat offenders

Posted on March 8, 2012 by comm5775

by BLAKELY BOWERS

Watching as law enforcement officials beat a near elderly man, as ordered by the prosecutor, a young boy was impacted forever.  Eight year-old Sim Gill, growing up in his native India, could not shake the image from his mind. He later found out the man had been wrongly accused of theft.

The childhood experience continues to inspire Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, as he works to restore justice on a day-by-day basis. Gill stands behind his mission statement to be firm and fair, swift and sure of holding offenders accountable for their criminal conduct.

In the United States,  more people are jailed than in any other country. The number of ethnic minorities in prison tops the list. U.S. incarceration rates are growing at a staggering rate. According to Gill, from 1970 to 2011, the numbers of jail and prison inmates grew from 700,000 to 2.2 million.

“We need a new approach,” Gill said. “We are locking up people we dislike, not just the people we are afraid of.”  The jailing of so many people has major impacts on all aspects of life in the United States, he said. The numbers affect society, especially in rising costs to the taxpayer.

What “new approach” could possibly work?  Gill believes it all begins with reforming mental health aid and with offering help to the chronically mentally ill. In order for a new approach to be funded and to work credibly, it needs to be safe for all involved, just and it must make fiscal sense.

More than one-fourth of people in jail suffer from mental illness, Gill said, explaining how the cycle of jail time typically works for the mentally ill: They serve time for crimes such as public intoxication and trespassing, then get released back to the streets and commit the same crimes again.

This is where Gill’s ultimate passion comes into play: Mental health court.  Those who have been charged with a crime and have mental disorders have the opportunity to voluntarily attend the program, within Utah’s Third District Court. Excluding sex offenders, active DUI cases, and excessively violent people, the court’s purpose is to closely supervise mentally ill defendants for 12 to 36 months.

“This is the fair break, the one opportunity given to these individuals who crave dignity of being treated as a human being.” Gill said.

Scott Mathis, a graduate of mental health court, attributes all of his success and confidence to the program. “I was lost, lost and confused. I was without any options and down deep into a dark hole without sight of any change. This program is the reason I am healthy today,” Mathis said. Because mental health court is voluntary, the individuals attending have consciously chosen to be there. The program’s volunteer nature has real impact on a participant’s attitude and commitment. The focus is not simply on punishment, but on treatment.

On its face, the program may seem to be letting criminals off easily. But mental health court‘s long-term recovery goal requires a solid commitment from those who participate. They are required to attend all meetings, get tested for drugs, evaluations and report to their assigned officer. “The program is not easy, that’s all I have to say,” Mathis said with an honest smirk. “It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but without a doubt, the best thing, too.”

Mathis now holds a full-time job in Salt Lake City, participates in speaking groups and serves as an active advocate for the program that turned his life around forever. “ I had been in and out of jail for numerous reasons, nothing ever changed. If not for the program I would be in jail, with fines up my ass, without any job options, and most critical, my three year-old son would not have a father in his life,” Mathis said.

Mathis has now been sober for almost two years, and has custody of his son.

“The mental health court program has potential to lift up our communities in countless ways. My life would not be the same without it, period.”

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Mental health court offers a helping hand to those willing to accept

Posted on March 8, 2012 by comm5775

by LEWIS WALKER

Are the court and prison systems really meant to seek out the morally right thing for communities, or are they too quick to target and punish those who are mentally unstable? Maybe there are more solutions to clean and sober living rather than simply locking people up.

Sitting hunched over in the front row of chairs at a chapel service at the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake shelter with a bloody tissue from a generic nosebleed was 72-year-old Herbert Smith. Smith has been homeless for so long he no longer calls a single place home. “Being homeless is nothing pretty, it ruins you in ways you couldn’t even imagine,” said Smith. Drugs are most of the reasons why Smith has come into contact with prison cells. “It’s sad because most of the drugs are coming from different countries, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what a COCO leaf looks like, but I got it somehow,” said smith.

Historically the mentally ill (homeless) have been victims to the shackles of the law enforcement due to the addictions they may suffer from. People working in a field close to these people have to come up with some sort of better resource, and one person in this field in Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney. Gill recently laid out his foundation for the University of Utah about his plans on helping these people.

Gill, using his own resources looks at ways to help these unsettled human beings, by providing systems such as drug court and mental health court. These focus to help guide them in the right direction. They aid in providing new resources such as correct prescriptions, temporary housing and teaching them about self medicating.

“We can only help the people that want to be helped,“ Gill said. These systems are totally voluntary. They give people the choice, the chance, as well as the responsibility to turn their lives around. The ones who choose to participate will undergo weekly urine analysis to detect relapses. This process places them in a non-judgmental community, surrounding them with others who may suffer from the same problems.

Are the policies of the Law Enforcement making things better? Of course, they do a lot for communities to make civilians feel safer and protected, but the question that stems from this is; are they doing it in the right ways? According to Herbert Smith, “They track down the easiest prey they can find.”

Kreeck Mendez agrees with the systems that Gill has helped to put in place to help these people get back on their feet. “I find Sim a good supporter of these people,” said Kreeck Mendez. Although the systems are not perfect, she says they are the best resource she has seen in her 20 years of working with the courts.

Many criticize these people being temporarily housed in the parks, but no one is quick to help. “We tend to go after the people that make us uncomfortable not necessarily the ones we dislike or scared of,” said Deborah Kreeck Mendez, a legal defense attorney. The prisons have become temporary housing cells for mentally unstable people due to deinstitutionalization of mental health institutions. These people now have no place to go, except turning to the streets, where it makes them easier to target. “They are harder to work with, so why not get them away so my world is better,” said Kreeck Mendez.

Drug abuse is a serious problem for a lot of people in this country. The choices made ruins lives, families, careers, and many more things. Some say why not help the addicts, some say why help them its their problem. Deborah Kreeck Mendez says, “Drug problems should not be imprisoned, but helped.” What good does it do to lock them up and not give case management skills to help them get over their mistakes?

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country, is it considered wrong when all we do is preach about LIBERTY and FREEDOM? “The law enforcement targets the people that are least able to help themselves,” said Kreeck Mendez. “White middle-class people get off with drug possession much easier than non-whites,” added Kreeck Mendez

We must look at the world in sections if this is the case. We are divided into pieces, leaving cracks separating us depending on our socioeconomic statuses as well as our race, ethnic backgrounds, and our conviction rates. Who’s to say every crack in this world may one day be filled!

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Mentally ill find refuge and help at mental health court

Posted on March 8, 2012 by comm5775

by TRICIA OLIPHANT

About 45 people assembled inside a Third District Courtroom in the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City and waited to talk to the judge.

An elderly man, who wore a brown, baggy suit coat that hung awkwardly on his small body, kindly greeted some old friends and then sat quietly among the audience.  He stared at his hands folded tightly in his lap and waited for his name to be read.

A woman, who appeared to be about 25, wore bright, tight-fitting clothing and tall stiletto heels.  Several pairs of large, flashy earrings adorned her ears.  Before sitting down, she chatted with friends, laughing and sharing jokes.

The court bailiff stood at the front of the room and read a list of names. Those who heard their names left their seats and stepped forward.

One-by-one, each stood at the podium and spoke with Third District Court Judge Judith Atherton about the events of the past week.

Welcome to Salt Lake County’s mental health court. The defendants here will not be sentenced to hard time in jail, so long as they commit to certain rules of behavior and take their medication.

The Salt Lake County Mental Health Court was founded more than 10 years ago.

“One of our main purposes here at mental health court [is] to get people to a point that they can maintain for the rest of their lives,” said Atherton, at mental health court earlier this year.

The mental health court program is voluntary. Participants commit to participate for 12 to 36 months.

Those participating stand before Atherton every week as she reviews the weekly report submitted by the participant’s caseworker.

In addition, participants agree to take all medications as prescribed and to obey all laws and other regulations.  Participants have contact throughout the week with their caseworkers to ensure compliance with these regulations.

If participants come to court and are off their medications, Atherton will order them to jail to be stabilized.

“The first thing we’re concerned about, Derek, is your welfare,” said Atherton to a mental health court participant.

The number one reason for mentally ill people to stop taking their medications is that they feel well and no longer believe they need medication, said Salt Lake County District Attorney, Sim Gill, who has made mental health court one of his top social justice priorities.  That is one of the reasons for frequent court appearances.

“Thank you for helping me. Thank you,” said Justin, who graduated from mental health court on Monday. “Everyone in here can do this.”

All who were present, including Atherton, applauded and congratulated the recent graduate.

Those eligible to participate in the mental health court have committed a misdemeanor or a felony, have an Axis one disorder (which means that their disorder can be treated with medical support), and must be legally competent.

Mental health court excludes the participation of sex offenders, those with open-active DUI cases, and the “excessively violent.”
“Is this a perfect model? Absolutely not. Is it a better model? [Darn] straight,” Gill said.

Gill said that the United States once had mental health institutions.  However, the institutions were abused and were therefore demolished by the Reagan Administration during the 1980s.

“By default, we have made jails and prisons [the] mental health institutions of our country,” Gill said. The Los Angeles County Jail,  he said, is the largest mental health facility in the United States.

Gill added that criminal activity is often a result of mental illness.

And, after mentally ill people are released from jail or prison, they often repeat the same crimes or commit new crimes because of their untreated illnesses.

The U.S. leads the world in jailing the most people, followed by China, Russia, and Cuba.

This excess in jailing U.S. citizens uses tax dollars and resources.

Gill said that the solution to this is something he calls “smart prosecution.” This includes alternatives to incarceration, therapeutic justice and locking up only those who genuinely breed fear in society, as opposed to those we simply do not like.

Mental health court is a form of smart prosecution and was created under the “systems,” or problem solving, approach.

“We lowered cost but increased care [with this model],” Gill said.

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Rehabilitating the homeless: Hopeless or helpful?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by comm5775

by FRANCES MOODY

Editor’s note: The following is an essay in response to “Million-dollar Murray,” an article by Malcom Gladwell in the Feb. 13, 2006 issue of The New Yorker

The sight of a drunken homeless man weaving in and out of oncoming traffic isn’t uncommon for a city dweller to witness.  To the average person, such sightings are viewed as blemishes covering the complexion of an otherwise beautiful place.  However, to some, those drunkards are icons that bring character and action to dull metropolitan life. In Reno, Nev., Murray Barr, known on the streets as “Smokey,” was that iconic personality. He loved alcohol and after his daily routine of blacking out, Murray fell to his bed, the sidewalk. One police officer, Steve Johns said, “I picked up Murray my whole career. Literally.” Over the years, Murray had run up a hospital bill of close $1 million, an amount that could have been put to better use.  In his article, “Million-Dollar Murray,” for the (Feb. 13, 2006) New Yorker Magazine, Malcolm Gladwell documents Murray’s story and proposes causes for and solutions to the epidemic of homelessness. Solutions in the article range from extremist law enforcement to long-term rehabilitation strategies.

Though Gladwell offers many resolutions, he ultimately displays society’s conflicting views on the subject matter. Due to legal obligations, political viewpoints and personal opinions, society will never agree on a definite answer to end homelessness.

One such problem associated with the homeless is panhandling. Homeless panhandlers roam the sidewalks of cities. Most panhandle to support drinking habits. The panhandling was for liquor, and the liquor was anything but harmless,” Gladwell writes. Gladwell suggests that begging for money is at an all-time low, but even worse, the products bought with that money present a bigger problem. When inebriated Murray passed out, police and paramedics were called to the scene. At just one of the three local hospitals in Reno, Murray ran a bill of $100 thousand. A logical answer to this problem would be to put a stop to panhandling. The Police Department of Reno held the same viewpoint and commenced an initiative to limit panhandling. Most Reno police took the program seriously, possibly to the extreme. They produced a high amount of criticism. “The crackdown on panhandling amounted to harassment, the critics said,” Gladwell writes. Harassment insinuates unfair treatment of human beings. While homeless men and women, like Murray, choose not to follow the standards of mainstream culture, they still have the same human/ constitutional rights. Homeless panhandling is not a pretty sight, but neither is harassment.

Stopping panhandling in Reno was an easy answer to a multi-layered issue. In an attempt to find an answer, Gladwell analyzes the mathematical distribution of homeless people. Through research provided by Boston College Graduate, Dennis Culhane, Gladwell discovered that the majority of homeless people are homeless for about a day. Such people are not nuisances like Murray, who pass out on the streets day after day. Culhane referred to people like Murray as “chronically homeless.” Only 10 percent of the homeless are associated with this definition. Gladwell recognizes this disproportionate distribution and surely, with close attention, that 10 percent can be rehabilitated.

Murray went through “detox” numerous times. His hospital bills amounted to big numbers and he never seemed to get better. Like most of the chronically homeless, Murray needed help. “They need time and attention and lots of money. But enormous sums of money are already being spent on the chronically homeless,” Gladwell writes. In one year, a group of 119 chronically homeless people in New York visited the emergency room 11,834 times. Each visit cost a thousand dollars. Why not use that money for long-term rehabilitation (in legal terms, known as the power-law homeless policy)? Long-term rehabilitation includes housing and therapy.  The city of Denver decided to use long-term rehabilitation as a solution to homelessness. Enrollees are given apartments, but must follow the program guidelines. Guidelines include: weekly appointments with case workers, doctor visitations, and psychiatric treatment.  “The cost of services comes to about $10 thousand per homeless client per year,” Gladwell writes. Millions of dollars are spent on the chronically homeless. That amount could be reduced to thousands of dollars.

It is convenient to rationalize that long-term rehabilitation is the best way to solve homelessness, especially from an economic perspective. On the other hand, as a moral question, the Power-law homeless policy can be viewed as unfair. “Thousands of people in Denver no doubt, live day to day, work two or three jobs, and are eminently deserving of a helping hand—and no one offers them the keys to a new apartment. Yet that’s what the guy screaming obscenities and swigging Dr. Tich [mouthwash] gets,” Gladwell writes. Shouldn’t the more deserving have access to government funds that offer free housing? This proposes a political issue. Conservatives view the idea of power-laws as unfair to more-deserving members of society, while liberals tend to oppose the idea of civilization turning into a mathematical structure with no human component.  Power-law homeless policy would prove to be non-existent in the two-party system of the United States.

Even if U.S. citizens agreed on long-term rehabilitation to solve chronic homelessness, other problems would persist. For example, a chronically homeless person may plainly disagree that he should change his way of life.  “The idea that the very sickest and most troubled can be stabilized and eventually employed is only a hope,” writes Gladwell. Gladwell gives the example of a man (name unknown) with cirrhosis of the liver. He was 27-years-old. This man participated in Denver’s long-term rehabilitation plan. The policy did not repair him. He trashed two apartments and went straight back to street life, comfortable with his condition. The plague of homelessness and how to solve it has many components. It not only surfaces on legal and political levels, but also on an individual level.

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Utah’s mental health court addresses repeat offender problems

Posted on March 8, 2012 by comm5775

by JASON NOWA

Sim Gill believes that jail is for people who have murdered, raped, or who have harmed children. Jail is not a place for the mentally ill. He is in the process of trying to accomplish this.

Gill, who is the Salt Lake County District Attorney, recently spoke to small group of University of Utah students about his job and the passions that drive him. Gill spoke about various processes,  from how he deals with the death penalty, drug abuse and to the mentally ill committing crimes. The United States jails more people than any other country in the world, he said. Gill estimated around 2.2 million people in the United States are currently incarcerated.

Gill is serious about his duty to the community in keeping the people safe.

“I have a commitment to justice. I don’t get to bend corners,” Gill said.

Gill supervises two divisions within his office: Civil and Criminal. The civil division Gill explained, deals with new ordinances, tax issues and litigation. In the criminal division, Gill and his staff attorneys prosecute murders, rapes, and other crimes against people and property. Gill is serving a 4-year term, with the next election in 2014.

“There isn’t a more fulfilling job than a public prosecutor,” he said.

Gill believes passionately in the concept of “restorative justice.” It follows that when a crime happens in the community it occurs to three sections of people, the victims, the offenders and the community, he said. All are affected in some way.

And Gill added there should be a distinction among those who go to jail. “We lock up people that you fear, not that you simply dislike,” he said.

When asked what type of people Gill is putting in jail, he responded, “We are locking up lower-class minority people, poor people, drug abusers and the mentally ill in our jails.” There is a better way, he said, to keep society safe while deciding how punishment should fit certain crimes.

Since the early 21st century, all across the nation mental health courts have been catching on. Mentally ill criminals were filling up jails for repeated and petty crimes. They would be released and repeat the same behavior, filling up jail space and draining resources, Gill said.

Jackie Rendo, family and consumer mentor and advocate for the Third District Adult Mental Health Court in Salt Lake City, said, “We believe these people who are put in the mental health courts are only committing the crimes that are due in part to their mental illness. If they are treated properly or were never mentally ill in the first place then they would not be committing the crimes that they are. We are simply here to help treat them and help them recover to become successful and law abiding citizens again in our communities.”

The goal of the Third District Court’s mental health court is to help patients function socially, and help provide treatment to improve their lives.

“One in every four adults, and one in every 10 children, about 60 million Americans, suffer from mental illnesses,” Rendo said.

Mental health court helps provide participants opportunities to find housing, jobs, treatment and other support services. Everyone who commits a crime and is admitted to mental health court must go through extensive screening for serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Those who qualify for mental health court must commit to 12 to 36 months of supervision. Defendants facing serious felonies, such as DUI or sex offenses, are not allowed to attend mental health court. Once a defendant agrees to the program, he or she meets frequently with counselors, case managers and judges. If the defendant does not cooperate with scheduled meetings, medications, drug tests, or wants to quit the program, the alternative is a return to jail.

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Drug courts beneficial for users seeking rehabilitation

Posted on March 6, 2012 by comm5775

by KATIE HARRINGTON

The Utah State Courts report that arrests for drug-related crimes have doubled in recent years, which has become motivation for the state to turn to drug court programming over incarceration.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill helped to implement drug courts in Utah more than 10 years ago.

But with continually rising drug arrests, the program has become important in recent years as a way to lower costs of incarceration for the Utah taxpayer.

“Drug courts work by recognizing that unless substance abuse ends, fines and jail time are unlikely to prevent future criminal activity,” according to the Utah State Courts.

Gill said the average cost to jail someone in Salt Lake County is $71 a day, a sum that quickly adds up when the rate of incarceration for non-violent drug users is consistently increasing.

“Crime is going to be around,” Gill said. “My challenge has been to create a situation where we can proactively reach in and collaborate with our communities in order to not be crisis managers, but be proactive agents who contribute to alleviating these issues.”

Gill said the way to do this is by promoting rehabilitation. After treatment in drug courts, Gill said, the recidivism arrest rate—that is, the likelihood in which people commit new crimes—decreased from 68 percent to around 23 percent.

John Anderson, a criminal defense attorney in Salt Lake City, said the criminal recidivism rate is universally accepted in the legal system as statistical fact and speaks to the success of the programming.

According to the Urban Institute and the Center for Court Innovation, the success of drug courts has been seen nationwide. A study of 23 drug courts in seven states showed that drug use was reduced by one-third after 18 months of participation in the programs, and the case studies were responsible for half as many criminal acts as those not participating in drug court.

“Largely because of these reductions in criminal behavior, drug courts ended up saving an estimated $5,680 dollars per participant,” the study said.

But Anderson said that drug courts are only successful for those who actually want to be there.

“The courts are hard-core. The requirements to participate are onerous. If someone puts in some effort and takes it seriously, they can curb the addictions and behaviors that got them there in the first place.”

If someone doesn’t want to actively participate in the programming, jail time seems to be the easier alternative, Anderson said.

Tiffany Brown, who served as a Utah Assistant Attorney General and Salt Lake County District Attorney, has actively worked with drug court participants.

“It’s hard for me as a taxpayer or as a member of the legal system to incarcerate a person who is solely ingesting substances that are harmful to him or herself,” Brown said. “So when you have that straight drug user who doesn’t go out and commit property crimes or violent crimes, or doesn’t harm anyone else, I don’t want to waste money on that person—ever.”

Brown said drug court programming is an effective way to reduce costs because the taxpayers are not providing health care, foster care, and other programming for incarcerated people or their children.

But the system is not perfect, Brown said.

“It’s a uniquely designed system that helps take a step back from traditional legal procedures and promotes rehabilitation,” Brown said. “But flaws exist as a result of the inability to totally fund the system in the way that it needs to be funded, in order to ensure that the people who are participating are more concerned about usage and less concerned about being caught.”

If the person lacks the desire to recover, the program’s benefits drop substantially, Brown said.

But Gill said that overall, drug court is both the economically and psychologically sound alternative.

“It’s not just a good progressive idea that I’m talking about,” Gill said. “It has become a fiscal necessity.”

“The worst thing you can do to a person is make them feel insignificant.” Drug court programming has started to prevent that, he said.

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Jason Nowa

Posted on February 23, 2012 by comm5775

MY STORIES: Sim Gill Story, Chris Burbank Story, Utes Basketball, Utes Baseball

My Blog: Living Words

I enjoyed this class I just took at University of Utah, Communication 3660 with Holly Mullen, a lot because it taught me a variety of things that I need to know for my major and for an eventual career in journalism. communication. We have created multiplemedia presentations that help further a career in this field. I have made a Twitter account and understand how it works now, as before I didn’t have one.

The LinkedIn portfolio helps provide myself  to connect with others in a business format. Multimedia is necessary nowadays to communicate with other people. The picture-taking is important, as well, to show you are well-rounded in this field as we have done in some assignments this semester.  I liked the X-ray readings analysis because it gives me a chance to read and really think and analyze an article instead of just reading to read. The analysis helps you to point out grammar issues, along with format and ideas.

The writing projects we did with Sim Gill and Chris Burbank were an eye opener as to how to write. I struggled to start with ideas on where to go with the law and justice portion of the assignment at first. Once I figured out which direction I could go with each article I did OK. I felt like I did a lot better with the enterprise stories, about Utah Ute baseball and Ute basketball, because it was something I was interested in and felt like I could really write about the stories I did. Ideas were a lot more free- flowing in my mind as to what to write about, after I figured out the topics I would write on. The interviewing in this class for the articles we did continued to remind me of the field I’m going into and how it will be in real life. The interview process is all about positive communication, even when denied. Persistence is necessary to be a good journalist. The Study Abroad Fair was the first real interviews for the class to get us ready for other interviews we did in the semester.

I learned a lot this semester by working on my writing. I know that I can write if I have a topic I’m interested in. New ideas might always be a struggle, but it keep me always thinking. I think positioning or formatting an article is something I can work on by brainstorming beforehand  to get my articles to be more cohesive. I need to read more AP Style to be able to remember how to write certain things before I write instead of looking it all up afterwards. Overall, this class has really helped me to be more confident in my writing, my interviewing and the fact that I can succeed in this field for a career. The only thing that got hard was having multiple articles being written at once. I will have to get used to that though. I really liked the suggestions that you, Holly, gave us as our teacher after I wrote because it helped me to see how I can write in an active voice and make things simple to read. Learning how to write is always a process of continuing to become better. I think writing these articles has helped me and practice will make perfect.

Writing about sports is what I enjoy because my entire life I have played them and to still have it in my life is important to me. Only a few people are lucky enough to make professional sports a career, but to write on games, or teams is something that keeps me young and competitive. Emotion is something that people enjoy in life and sports provides such thrills for people to entertain that.

Though I have written before in my life in high school and at a previous university, it had been a while for myself and I had forgotten for a while how to write. This class I took really helped me to get back on track with my writing style with help from my teacher. I hope to continue in the journalism world and make a career for myself some day.

ABOUT ME: My name is Jason Nowa. I’m a student at University of Utah. I love sports and music. I am 25 years old. My major is communication. My hometown is in Southern California. I want to be a journalist because writing about my hobby of sports is interesting to me. My stories will have a great impact on myself and those who read them.

Photo by Jason Nowa

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Volunteers of America’s detox center helps men and women get back on two feet

Posted on January 16, 2012 by comm5775

Story and slideshow by LAURA SCHMITZ

As Volunteers of America celebrates its 25th anniversary in Utah in 2011, the program that started it all is still going strong.

A national, nonprofit organization, VOA has a presence in 44 states and employs a range of paid staff, who work to tackle issues such as homelessness and drug addiction.

The Adult Detoxification Center, its first project in Salt Lake City, now offers 56 beds with three separate dorms to men and women purging their systems of alcohol and drugs.

About 20 to 25 staff are employed by the center, including case managers, front line recovery assistants and management. Utilizing a social model, the center promotes relational development and peer motivation to encourage clients to sobriety.

“Being able to build trust and relationship with people is huge,” said Sue Ativalo, director of the center, located at 252 West Brooklyn Ave. in Salt Lake City. “Relationships are a big piece to help them want to recover.”

Client admittance to the detox center is voluntary, and no matter how many times a client has returned, “we never want to show any judgment,” Ativalo said.

Clients follow a structured schedule each day while at the center. Between the 5:30 a.m. wake-up and lights out at 10 p.m., clients attend educational and spiritual meetings during the day and are required to attend detox meetings — such as Alcoholics Anonymous — at night.

Eighty-five to 90 percent of clients are homeless, and though ages have ranged from 18 to 77, the average clients are from their late 30s to late 40s. As of 2011, the center has had more than 15,000 night stays by Salt Lake County residents and serves about 1,600 individuals per year.

“Not very many people have sympathy for our population,” Ativalo said. “But, they are amazing individuals, and we appreciate volunteers that come.”

Clients must have “used” in the past 72 hours to be eligible for services, so the first step the staff takes is to remove those substances from their bodies. Most clients are taken off of all substances “cold turkey,” often causing symptoms of withdrawal, Ativalo said.

Drugs generally take just a few days to clear the system, but effects can last for weeks.

The center has basic medications to lessen pain from the process and often administers a cocktail that combines Tylenol, chamomile and anti-diarrheal components to ease symptoms. Depending on the specific substance, they can include irritability, tremors, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle aches and sometimes hallucinations.

Since the center is not a treatment facility but a detox facility, the staff will refer clients to partnering organizations, such as the Fourth Street Clinic, when they demonstrate need for additional medical treatment. That medical facility is specifically dedicated to homeless patients.

The center can also refer clients to long-term treatment centers such as St. Mary’s, Odyssey House, First Step House, The Haven and Valley Mental Health.

“The difficulty is the waiting list for [those] programs is really high,” Ativalo said. “There is a huge group, but no transitional place while waiting for treatment.”

Ativalo said some clients will instead return to drugs on a low dosage to prevent symptoms of withdrawal.

“A lot of chronic users will use to stay well rather than to get high,” she said.

Once clients are physically detoxed, they are offered assistance from the center’s case managers, who oversee their progress and counsel them through goal setting and a sustainable, full recovery.

One client returns to VOA after visiting the center when it first opened its doors in 1986, coming back to the center after more than 20 years.

“Originally I was in and out of here for two weeks at a time for about six different times,” said client Scott Barker. “Then they put me on the HUD program. I was here for 103 days on that, and I am on it now.”

The Housing and Urban Development program is an initiative to place clients into permanent housing, and the detox center reserves six beds specifically for those enrolled in the program. HUD participants have more freedom than regular clients and can get passes to leave, have cell phones and acquire more personal belongings.

“I was kind of a revolving door before I got on HUD,” Barker said, saying that the six members of the HUD program help create a sense of community and accountability.

Homeless since 2009, Barker said drugs and alcohol, as well as lack of stability and problems with the law, led to his circumstances.

“[The program] is good stability,” Barker said. “Here, you get some structure going. You have enough freedom that you can set up your own plan and work from it, but enough structure that you’re not just out there, running wild. It’s a good way to focus on things you need to accomplish.”

Barker is currently working with vocational rehabilitation and hopes to go back to school, ultimately wishing to return to truck driving.

“For the most part, I’m pretty happy here, but I’m always looking towards the future,” he said.

It is common for clients, such as Barker, to return several times to the detox center before achieving sobriety.

“We see a lot of people who will come again and again,” said Emily Bennett, who works with VOA’s Jail Diversion Program. “A lot of people say relapse is a part of recovery.”

The JDP reserves 10 beds at the detox center for Salt Lake City Police, West Valley City Police, UTA Police and the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department for individuals who are publicly intoxicated. The program serves as an alternative to jail time and is also cheaper for the county.

Bennett said jail is over-crowded, and “doesn’t address the problem.”

Some clients have received so many citations they are unable to afford that they have warrants for their arrest. For these cases and others, JDP staff will often send clients to Judge John Baxter of Utah’s third district court. Baxter founded and governs the Salt Lake City Justice Court Homeless Outreach Project, or the Homeless Court.

The court meets twice per month at the Bishop Weigand Homeless Day Center and is specifically for homeless defendants. Baxter handles infractions and misdemeanor cases only, often sentencing community service instead of fees.

“He’s a rock star,” Bennett said of Baxter. “He’s not what you’d expect from a judge. He has a lot of respect for the clients, calling them ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am.’”

Chris Allsop, 23, is another client who has returned to the center multiple times to regain his footing.

“This year alone I’ve been here more than 30 times,” Allsop said. “My average day out of detox is just back to smoking and drinking. So I always choose to come here, where I have no desire to use anymore.”

Allsop, who said he has taken “more drugs than he can count on his 10 fingers,” came to the center this time after taking a pain pill called Neurontin.

“That stuff is all chemicals – it’s all really bad,” Allsop said. “I’m about done with that stuff, because it makes my heart go too fast, and I don’t think before I start doing things when I’m on it.”

Allsop first came to the detox center after trying to get away from some members of his family.

“My uncle, he disowned me, so I came over here,” he said. “My family is mean to me — my cousin abused me.”

Falling into bad habits away from his family, he has now been ordered by the court to attend 130 AA meetings, which is a common nightly routine for clients.

“I really need to get a job, so I’m trying to clean up my act,” Allsop said. “I want to get to work – maybe part-time school.”

Allsop said the staff at the detox center has helped him to keep going.

“I specifically enjoy the staff and their participation in helping me,” he said. “If I start falling into only hanging out with the clients, they’re going to get me in trouble, and I’ll be back out there, using again.”

Barker also said the staff played a big role in his development.

“I know the staff quite well,” Barker said. “The staff is great here, they’ve helped me with a lot of things, and they’re easy to get along with, too.”

The detox center staff also works closely with other VOA programs in Salt Lake City, including the Homeless Youth Resource Center, Homeless Outreach Program and the Center for Women and Children.

“Collaboration is huge – we see a lot of the same clients,” director Ativalo said.

She said continued education and accurate awareness about the population is necessary to encourage the number of volunteers and to end the cycle of drug use.

Those interested in volunteering with the detox center or any of VOA’s programs must apply on its website. To donate, the detox center accepts financial contributions and in-kind donations. Current needs include towels, sweat pants, waterproof pillow covers, deodorant, current DVDs and men’s socks.

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Nonprofits’ motivation brings ‘credibility’ to the community

Posted on January 16, 2012 by comm5775

by LAURA SCHMITZ

Nonprofits, by definition, must exist for public benefit and comply with a “non-distribution constraint,” mandating that net earnings not be directly distributed to owners.

For some, nonprofits are defined by much more.

The Utah Nonprofits Association exists solely to unite more than 600 nonprofit organizations in the state, supported by more than 20 community partners. A part of the National Council of Nonprofits, it also works at the national level, promoting the interests of its organizations to government officials.

An example of one of its collaborators is the national nonprofit, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. With five distinct sites in the Greater Salt Lake area, its Lied club is located at 464 South Concord (1235 West) in Salt Lake City, serving 80 to 100 kids per day.

“I think there is definitely a reputation, a belief system that goes with nonprofits,” said Tiffany Harris, club director for the Lied Boys & Girls Club, in a telephone interview. “They give you more credibility within the community, because your main motivation is your mission. I think when people see that’s your driving force as opposed to money, they are more likely to support you.”

The Boys & Girls Club reaches out to at risk youth, proving resources and a haven away from home. According to its website, after-school hours, between 3 and 6 p.m., are when children are most likely to try drugs and when most juvenile assaults occur.

“We definitely have core members that come,” Harris said. “Most of our kids we see every day. It’s part of their routine — a lot of them walk here after school.”

With 84 percent of its children coming from families considered to be low-income, Harris said the club works to provide them with unique opportunities that might not have been afforded to them.

“We’re starting an art program, having local artists come in,” Harris said. “It’s great, because they have that background and expertise that kids crave and really love. Classes are expensive, so we try to fill that gap that kids wouldn’t get otherwise.”

The Lied club has 10 paid staff members, including four who work with elementary age children and three dedicated to the teen center. The center is open primarily during the high-risk after-school hours, opening each day at 2 p.m.

While nonprofits can apply for 27 types of tax exceptions from the Internal Revenue Service, the Boys & Girls Club functions under the common 501(c)(3). It receives the majority of its funding through local and state grants, private foundations and donations.

“That’s what a healthy nonprofit will do,” Harris said. “You can’t rely on one major funding source, because if that source pulls, your funding is gone.”

However, these organizations are not devoid of any monetary gain, which is a common misconception, said Nancy Basinger, assistant director and service learning manager at the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center at the University of Utah who works extensively with nonprofit’s rights and bylaws.

“The [nonprofit] organization must make a profit, but must also be reinvestigating its own entity,” Basinger said. “The most in-demand nonprofits are those that assist in survival.”

Basinger said one common negative theme she sees within the nonprofit industry is that there are many individuals who are passionate about a cause but have little business experience.

“A lot of [nonprofit] leaders are doing this organization on top of other things,” she said. “They’re acting as social workers and nonprofit workers and have a family and kids.”

Basinger said the passion must be balanced with experience to have a successful impact in the community. She encouraged would-be entrepreneurs to first try partnering with an existing organization before building from the ground up.

“It’s not good to have a million nonprofits competing over the same dollars, rather than a few nonprofits working together under the same dollar,” she said.

Along with its hundreds of nonprofit organizations, Utah has 7.2 active charities for every 10,000 residents, who make up the largest charitable contributors in the United States, based on income. Those living in the Beehive state are also No. 2 in the nation for self-reported volunteering.

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