Tara Nichols, the justice programs manager in Monroe County, hopes that the stigma of substance use disorder is broken every time someone observes drug treatment court.
Understanding people’s experiences with substance use disorder, the criminal justice system, and efforts to access treatment is critical for students seeking to work with this population.
“Humanizing addiction is a lot different when you see somebody’s struggles, and it’s not like what’s in a textbook,” Nichols said.
Through a partnership with UniverCity Alliance, students in Dr. Patti Coffey’s Psychology 601: Issues in Prisoner Reentry class learned firsthand the transformative power behind specialized court programs. Drug courts are designed to rehabilitate high-risk and high-need individuals, and they combine legal supervision, rehabilitation services, and resources to address social needs.
The students observed Monroe County’s drug treatment court, watched a graduation ceremony, interviewed staff and participants, and evaluated the program across three priority standards. Ultimately, the students created a report that incorporated qualitative interviews, quantitative data, and a review of program documents that will help Monroe County share progress with elected officials, apply for grants, and determine potential changes to make to the drug court program.
“Our goal is to comply with the Treatment Court Best Practice of completing an outside evaluation, at a minimum of every five years,” Nichols said. “We were able to meet that goal by partnering with UniverCity.”
UniverCity Alliance’s mission is to connect Wisconsin local governments with resources at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to meet their community-identified goals. In this case, Monroe County’s goal was clear and aligned well with Coffey’s class and her commitment to community-based learning opportunities for students interested in criminal justice- or clinical service-related careers.
When matches between communities and coursework like this one are made, Gavin Luter, former UniverCity Alliance managing director, said it’s the Wisconsin Idea playing out in real time.
“This is exactly the kind of experience that showcases what’s possible when UW partners with a local government,” Luter said. “Students get a chance to have a transformative experience, while Monroe County gets a document that helps them improve their diversion programs. This is a win-win for UW and Monroe County, and it helps us showcase the Wisconsin Idea in a genuine way.”
A benefit to this partnership, Nichols said, is considering Monroe County’s drug court from an outside perspective. It can be difficult to do a holistic review of a program while balancing day-to-day work.
“Having a focused time to really talk about the program and answer questions about what we think we’re doing well, what we think we can improve upon, and knowing that that was going to help the students look at our data was really great,” Nichols said.
Ultimately, the students found that Monroe County’s drug court meets a significant portion of the All Rise Adult Treatment Court Best Practices Standards they evaluated and that there is room for improvement with Monroe County-specific cultural training, according to their report.
Beyond the project specifics, Nichols said it was refreshing to see the eagerness from the students.
“You get in this work for a long time, and you just kind of sometimes go through the motions,” Nichols said. “To see that excitement from people and how much they want to help people is rejuvenating.”
Putting classroom skills into action
Coffey said she strives to provide “meaningful contributions to community partners for those communities and for students to learn all the ways they can be of service.”
She said her students gained valuable professional development, learned how to conduct interviews, and realized the value of learning from those working in the field and also people with lived experience.
“Perhaps most importantly, they witnessed the effectiveness of treatment courts and the dedication and compassion displayed by professionals working with this program — providing valuable role modeling for future careers,” Coffey said. “In addition, the emotional impact of watching a graduation ceremony and the hope and pride associated with successful completion of the program is something students will remember for the rest of their lives.”
For the psychology students, the experience of working with Monroe County was meaningful, educational, and – for some – one of the best parts of their academic career at UW–Madison.
“This was the first time where I was able to do work in my community with the knowledge and skills I’ve gained over the past three and a half years, and it felt amazing to prove to myself that I have real-world skills that are valuable,” said Cait Gehl, who graduated in December 2024 with a degree in psychology.
Gehl said the in-person visits and interviews were the highlight of the project and made the experience “feel real and truly important.” The group of students working with the drug court made two visits over the course of the semester to Monroe County.
“In conjunction with previous courses and my job at a criminal defense firm, this experience strengthened my desire to work in the criminal legal system and be in a position where I can provide support to those who have been negatively impacted by mass incarceration and systemic violence,” Gehl said.
Ciarra Prill, who plans to graduate in May and is majoring in psychology, emphasized the importance of spending time in Monroe County observing the drug court.
“From our first visit solely observing, to our last visit when we directly interviewed everyone, you can just tell how everyone interacts with each other and is so positive in everyone’s individual journey,” Prill said. “Recovery is difficult and seeing how uplifting everyone was with each other, proves how areas of support can alone psychologically impact one’s journey to recovering.”
The experience also exposed the students to career options that they might not have previously considered.
Suneil Jurgensen, another student in Coffey’s class who worked on a different project, learned from his peers about Monroe County’s drug court. Jurgensen said the class opened his eyes to the existence of a treatment court.
“Outside of the nuts and bolts of treatment standards for this field, I learned just how impactful these alternatives to incarceration can be, that there’s too many people who need treatment, not a sentence, in order to truly change their path away from recidivism,” Jurgensen said.
After graduating in December 2024 with a degree in psychology, Jurgensen now works as a wrap-around case manager for a nonprofit called JusticePoint that is contracted by Dane County.
“I’m interested in this field because at the crux of our justice system is a belief that behavior is changeable. We’ve simply normalized that punishment and incarceration is the way to do it,” Jurgensen said. “However, this field allows us to test the merits of changing behavior via compassion and treatment, not punishment and incarceration.”
Elizabeth Lamack, who graduated in December 2024 with degrees in psychology and legal studies, said she was able to see what a future career in the legal field might look like by working with Monroe County. Lamack said watching the drug court judge in action was inspiring and observing how the drug treatment court employees interacted was informative.
“I loved seeing the district attorney, the defense attorney, treatment providers, and the judge work together to really help individuals who have not received much help their entire life,” Lamack said. “I think it was hopeful that we could work within a system to help people get back on their feet and truly change their lives.”
This story was published in the May edition of the Wisconsin Counties Association. Read the issue here and a pdf version here.
—Abigail Becker