Contact:  Ed Ferenc, Public Information Officer                                  
Cleveland Municipal Court
216 664 6787 / 216 789 2597
ference@cmcoh.org     www.cmcoh.org

(Cleveland) – The 56th Graduation Ceremony of the Greater Cleveland Drug Court, under the direction of Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Lauren C. Moore, will take place Monday, October 16 at 5:00 p.m. at South Pointe Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic facility located at 20000 Harvard Rd.  in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.

“It makes sense to have it there because when you think about it, Drug Court is all about treatment, which is what happens in a hospital,” said Judge Moore, who has overseen the Drug Court Program at the court since 2015.

A total of 22 people are expected to graduate, which brings the total number of people who have successfully completed the program to 1,645 since it began 19 years ago.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Philip Cole Jr. Director of Community Relations at Moore Counseling and Mediation Services Inc., one of the many partners in the Greater Cleveland Drug Court Program.

“I have seen the ugly results of substance abuse and how so many families have been torn apart, especially now with the opioid epidemic” said Cole who was one of four people at Moore Counseling when he started there 10 years ago.   Today there are 80 people employed there.

“And at least 85% of the clients we see are addicted to opioids,” he said.

Participants in the Greater Cleveland Drug Court generally spend 12 to 20 months in the program. Longer cases may occur due to the fact that opiate addicts generally need more treatment time.  This year, four of the graduates entered the program with felonies, while the others were charged with lesser offenses.

Specialized dockets like the Greater Cleveland Drug Court are dedicated to handling offenses related to substance abuse, and use a combination of techniques for holding the offenders accountable while also addressing the underlying causes of their behavior.

There are more than 150 specialized dockets in Ohio. In 2014, this particular docket was certified by the Supreme Court of Ohio. The Drug Court Program began in the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1998, however, and has since expanded to other parts of Cuyahoga County.