This month more than a dozen “faces of recovery” posters are decorating the fourth floor hallway of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, a different feel for a place known for tragedy.
In the month of May, a few of the problem-solving initiatives the criminal court provides—Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and various mental health programs—celebrate the countless lives they have helped and saved with treatment.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
WATCH HEREDefendants arrested in prison, instead of jail, could at times be offered these problem-solving courts. The clients go through treatment, counseling and receive medical and mental health resources.
At the end of the programs, if they're completed successfully, criminal charges could be dropped for defendants.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP
“We have people who have come from a life of crime, drug abuse, or mental illness, and are able to recover with their families, get jobs, get driver licenses, just become reintegrated into the community. That's the most fulfilling thing of my job,” said Judge Maria Elena Verde-Yanez, the presiding judge over Drug Court.
On Wednesday, several judges at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice building got together with defendants-turned-graduates to celebrate their accomplishments, which at times include sobriety.
“This program helped my life. It was hard, but it’s the only way to get better," said Armando Rabelo, a graduate of one of the programs.
Local
Walter Thompson, a peer specialist with the problem-solving courts, who works with the more than 500 people currently in the program, told NBC6: "We take you to through treatments and you start understanding what your illness is and now you can research it, can live it and you can work on a recovery date, because now you have a plan. Not a plan for jail, but a plan for recovery. “
The exhibit, which features graduates of the programs, will continue to be displayed on the fourth floor of the courthouse until the end of May.
