HELENA — On Tuesday, Governor Greg Gianforte joined the First Judicial District Treatment Court in Helena to celebrate their two newest graduates.
Jasmine Newman and Taylor Corne were both recognized for work in overcoming addiction and persevering to get on track towards a better and brighter tomorrow.
Treatment courts help non-violent offenders rebuild their lives through treatment, recovery, counseling, education, and job placement services. The programs are often far less costly than incarceration, and three years after completing treatment court programs around 70 percent of graduates are clean and holding a job.
“We have an obligation to help get people back on their feet and fight addiction,” said Gianforte. “These treatment courts help people get their lives back and we say today with Jasmine and Taylor’s graduation, they worked their tails off to get to the point of being self-sufficient and I’m just so happy for them.”
Gianforte has championed treatment courts in the past, and earlier this year as a part of the state budget proposed $47 million in state and federal funds to increase the number of drug-treatment courts in the state, add more probation and parole officers and increase treatment programs in the correctional system.
Tuesday’s graduates from the First Judicial District Treatment Court say they’re incredibly thankful for the opportunity and support they received in overcoming their addictions and getting their lives back on track.
“They’ve given me the opportunity to live a clean and sober life with my family and that is huge,” said Newman. I lost everything when I had relapsed.”
Newman is now more than 750 days sober through the program and plans on going into a career in drug treatment to help others who are in the same place she was not that many years ago.
