Opinion ID: 2640889
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The SARMS Program

Text: The Juvenile Court of San Diego County implemented SARMS in April 1998. [3] SARMS is an intensive case management program operated by contract with an independent provider [4] that specializes in managing drug and alcohol cases. (See Milliken & Rippel, Effective Management of Parental Substance Abuse in Dependency Cases (2004) 5 J. Center for Families, Children & Cts. 95, 99 (hereafter Milliken & Rippel).) If a social worker notifies the juvenile court that the parent of a minor child may have a substance abuse problem, the court refers the parent to SARMS for an assessment. (Rule 6.1.19.) If the parent has not voluntarily submitted to a SARMS assessment by the time the court assumes jurisdiction over the minor, the court will order [the] parent to report to SARMS for assessment within 48 hours. ( Ibid. ) The San Diego court thus requires a SARMS assessment in all dependency cases when the potential for parental substance abuse exists. If the assessment indicates a need for treatment, a SARMS caseworker prepares a recovery services plan, which is made part of the parent's reunification case plan. The SARMS plan typically includes counseling, therapy, education and support groups, as well as frequent random drug and alcohol tests. Every two weeks, SARMS reports to the court on the parent's compliance and the results of drug tests. Every 30 days, the court holds a hearing to review the parent's progress in treatment. (Milliken & Rippel, supra, 5 J. Center for Families, Children & Cts. at p. 99.) Once participation in SARMS is made part of a parent's reunification case plan, the parent cannot withdraw from the program without suffering consequences. Any noncompliance with the SARMS recovery plan, including missed or failed drug tests or missed meetings, results in a cascade of judicial sanctions made mandatory by a local court rule. Rule 6.1.19 states that every `noncompliant event' will result in the following sanctions: For the first violation, the parent will receive a judicial reprimand. For each subsequent violation, the parent will be cited for contempt of court for disobeying a court order; a finding of contempt may result in a fine and/or incarceration for up to five days. After a parent has been jailed for contempt, he or she is referred to the county's dependency drug court. ( Ibid. ) The dependency drug court supervises a nine-month program involving even more judicial oversight. (Milliken & Rippel, supra, 5 J. Center for Families, Children & Cts. at p. 99.) As with SARMS, a parent's failure to comply with drug court orders results in sanctions of increasing severity, including up to five days in custody for each noncompliant event. ( Ibid. ) Repeated failures to comply with drug court orders may result in the parent's termination from drug court and the scheduling of a permanency planning hearing.