Drug court graduates celebrate accomplishment despite covid-19 restrictions

John Panucci was in the home stretch of his path through Westmoreland County’s Drug Court when the coronavirus erupted in March.

Drug court — a two-year program that mixes court supervision, counseling and treatment in exchange for reduced or alternative jail sentences — was not exempt from the pandemic, which forced participants to stay at home and away from their weekly sessions with probation officers and court appearances.

“It made it a little more difficult, but because I had been in the program so long, I had the resources I needed. I think the biggest stress is the unknown. You don’t know when (the government-mandated closures) will end. That puts you in places where you are away from friends and family,” Panucci said Thursday after the county’s ninth graduation ceremony for the program.

Panucci, 33, of Hempfield was among eight graduates in the most recent class, the largest since the program’s inception in 2015.

The program has graduated 47 participants.

Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani, who with Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio oversees the drug court, noted the unusual circumstances that led up to Thursday’s graduation.

“Covid-19 presented extremely challenging conditions for our participants,” Feliciani said.

Each judge has a roster of up 30 participants who, in normal times, gather in court twice a month and undergo weekly drug tests. Court hearings were replaced with remote meetings, and testing was conducted through patches that participants sent to probation officials for analysis.

Beginning in June, drug court — like most other court programs — returned to more normal operations.

Still, attendance at Thursday’s graduation was limited because of social distancing requirements. Everyone in the courtroom wore masks.

“This is one of the most surreal congregations we’ve had,” Feliciani said.

Drug court Administrator William Sifko said the program has 14 vacancies expected to be filled in the coming weeks. The reduced numbers are a result of Thursday’s graduation and a slowdown in enrollment because of the pandemic, Sifko said.

“This wasn’t perfect or ideal,” Sifko said of drug court operations over the past several months. “It was a new world, and we survived. We’re very fortunate we didn’t lose anybody.”