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Troup County Accountability Court held a graduation ceremony on Wednesday for the fall Class of 2024. Thirty residents graduated from the various accountability programs during a ceremony at the William Griggs Center, celebrating their victory over substance abuse and mental health problems.

Court Services in Troup County provides access to Accountability Courts, which offer the programs as interventions for individuals who experience issues seeking treatment for substance abuse and/or mental health problems. The goals of the programs are to help reduce crime, drug and alcohol addiction, reduce recidivism and promote mental health.  Throughout the state, Georgia’s Accountability Courts offer interventions for individuals who experience issues seeking treatment for substance abuse and/or mental health problems.

Troup County’s programs include Felony Adult Drug Court, DUI/Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Parental Accountability Court and Family Treatment Court.  The programs offer alternatives to traditional court adjudication by allowing participants to undergo treatment and be held accountable for their actions by meeting regularly with counselors and local judges who help run the programs.

Hank Arnold, Founder and Executive Director of Coweta FORCE, served as guest speaker for the ceremony. Coweta FORCE is a recovery community organization founded in November 2018. FORCE stands for Friends of Recovery for Community Empowerment.  The organization provides resources and education needed to help those start or continue on their path of recovery.

Arnold announced in November that the program would be expanding into Troup County under the moniker Friends of Recovery Troup, or FOR Troup.

Arnold is an accountability court graduate himself, having previously struggled with addiction.

“I was 18 when my classmates were walking across the stage and receiving their high school diplomas. I was at Jackson State Prison classification facility getting ready to start a three-year incarceration sentence,” Arnold said.

“At 32, I made the decision to recover from a life of addiction, a life that consumed much of my views and early adulthood. Recovery began for me by connecting with a community of people who wanted the best for me. People with lived experience have shown me it was possible to live a happy, purposeful and productive life,” Arnold said.

“Now I’m a person with 14 years of long-term recovery from substance use challenges. I’m a recovery advocate, a change agent, a hope dealer, and the biggest cheerleader of those who think it’s too late to chase their dreams,” Arnold said.

Mental Health Court Graduate Kiana Broome said the program helped her with time management, to share her story with people and to listen to others.

“The most important part is accountability, being accountable for your actions and holding yourself accountable for your own actions,” Broome said.

Broome said prior to the program, she was a real hothead and in the streets. She ended up in jail for taking something that was not hers.

“Jail is not a place I want to go back to after completing this program. I made it my number one priority not to go back,” Broome said. “I can’t be in and out of jail. I have a six-year-old son, and I want him to see me doing better, and I want him to do better than what I did.”

DUI Court Graduate Frederick Paul said the program helped him tremendously.

“It took me from a toxic person and to realize that I am more dedicated towards life. It brought me to know that my past is not my challenges, but my future is,” Paul said.

“This program is designed to help people really deal with the problems, to stay in sobriety and focus. With that focus, you are going to have a better life, a better family life, a better job life and just life period,” Paul said.