Story Photos
 Photo by Bill Wagner Nichole Kidrick, one of the first three H.O.P.E. Court graduates, holds her daughter Taliah as she speaks during the graduation ceremony Tuesday. |
Reunited, drug free
Saturday, October 20, 2007 11:57 PM PDT
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleNichole Kidrick was nearly a lost cause when she entered Cowlitz County's H.O.P.E. Court 20 months ago.
Her daughter Taliah, then three months old, was the first of her three children not to be born with drugs in her system -- and that was only because Kidrick entered treatment shortly before the baby's birth. Kidrick had lost custody of her two oldest children, and Child Protective Services had already opened a file on Taliah. She'd abused alcohol and meth for years, including during all three pregnancies.
Marilyn DuVall, director of Court-Appointed Special Advocates worried about the young mother when she was assigned her case. Kidrick didn't even know how to hold infant Taliah, DuVall said.
"I was sure you wouldn't make it," DuVall said Tuesday.
But Kidrick was exactly the type of parent Cowlitz County officials had in mind when they created the Helping Our Parents Excel Court in February of 2006. Officials wanted to help addicts turn their lives around and regain custody of their children -- but only if the parents were willing to put in the work necessary to change their lives.
Wednesday, Kidrick was one of the program's success stories as she and two other women became the first-ever H.O.P.E. Court graduates.
Kidrick, 24, has regained custody of her two daughters, Miah, 3, and Taliah, 22 months. Son Isiah, 6, lives with his grandmother, but Kidrick is once again involved in his life. She has her driver's license back, has paid off an outstanding PUD bill and has an apartment in Lexington. The single mom is clean and sober and is taking classes to become a Spanish interpreter to wean herself off public assistance.
She volunteers at the Lower Columbia Community Action Program through the WorkForce employment training program. And she's the co-chairwoman of the parent committee at her daughter's Head Start program.
The other graduates chose not to be identified, in order to shield their children. But they and their families tearfully thanked the H.O.P.E. Court organizers, saying the program restored their families and their pride.
The keynote speaker, an addict who won back three of her eight children before H.O.P.E. Court existed, also lauded the program and its chance for redemption.
"My message is hope for the moms and dads out there struggling. If you make different choices things can change for the better," Bridie Jennings told the graduates and audience. "This program wasn't available to me but it's a really awesome, awesome thing."
Not all succeed
H.O.P.E. Court is similar to drug court, offering parents extra support in kicking their habits and regaining custody of their children. In return, parents agree to be regularly drug tested and to attend numerous parenting and other classes aimed at helping them turn their lives around.
Government officials and social workers, including the judge, child protective services, drug treatment providers and the parents' lawyers work together on each case, meeting regularly to get updates, brainstorm solutions and warn of any looming problems. Parents don't automatically get their children back by enrolling in the program, merely the chance to prove to officials they can safely raise their children.
Not every story is a success. Five parents have opted out of the program that began in February of 2006. At least one has given up permanent custody of her child.
"If a case ends in termination (of custody), at least we know we did everything we can do," said Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Jill Johanson, who helped start the program.
And sometimes the toughest cases surprise officials, Johanson told the standing-room only crowd Wednesday. A seasoned family court judge, Johanson said she never expected Jennings to succeed as a parent. Even Jennings admitted that for several years "even though I loved my children, the drugs were more important."
"No one believed I would do this," she told the graduates of her recovery. "And it took a lot of work and keeping my word and following through. But now I have a really wonderful life."
In addition to the three graduates, 11 other parents are working through the H.O.P.E. Court program. Several gave their regular updates to Johanson before the graduation ceremony Tuesday.
The parents are held to strict standards and some lose custody or are sent to jail for breaking the program's rules. (Kidrick lost her daughters for five months after turning herself in for drinking). But they're also given plenty of encouragement and support if they commit to change. And their monitoring continues well after they first get their children back.
"It sounds like your concerns have been expressed in the right way," Johanson told one parent during the regular court session before the graduation.
"You had to decide not to be a friend to your kids but to be a mother," she told another.
"I'm glad to see you're sticking with it," she told yet another. "I know it's not easy and I know its hard."
Life-changing moments
Two years ago Kidrick didn't even have a home, let alone a stable one.
When her Parent-Child Assistance Program advocate got involved in 2005, Kidrick was on the lam. She was pregnant and hiding out from Child Protective Services as she desperately tried to get an apartment set up so she could keep custody of her second child. None of her children's fathers had any role in their lives and still don't.
"When I think about when I first met her, trying to figure out which couch she was sleeping on that night, compared to where she is now -- it's amazing," advocate Katie King said during the ceremony. "She's such an awesome mom."
Kidrick entered drug treatment with King's help, including living in an inpatient treatment center with newborn Taliah.
She's had some setbacks, and in December had to deal with the shooting death of her sister, Kandice Kidrick-Brenner. Shortly after that Kidrick also lost her grandfather.
It was Kidrick-Brenner's violent death -- combined with the structure of the H.O.P.E. Court program -- that Kidrick said allowed her to finally kick her habit. She didn't use at all during the two deaths, something she said wouldn't have been possible without the skills she learned in the program.
"I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be able to at least not drink ... but I definitely changed when my sister was killed," Kidrick said. "If the drugs weren't involved in her life I know she'd still be alive today. And that made me reflect on the fact that it could be me and I'd be leaving my kids behind. ... I don't think I'll ever use drugs again now. I'm too scared. I don't want to die."
"She's had a rough year and a rough life but she's really blossomed," Kidrick's mother Paula Brenner said during the ceremony. "The loss of her sister made a hole in us but all her positive and hard work has helped fill that."
Kidrick said the key to success in the program is "being willing to do whatever it takes to get your kids," and told her fellow program participants that "we are all miracles."
"I don't forget to cook dinner or bathe my kids anymore," she told the audience while receiving her diploma. "I love and am loved by my children today.
"I am a mother today."
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