"The court agrees not to prosecute your child for the charge if the child agrees to do the following: (1) Attend one alcohol and drug education class at Mainstream Youth Program; and (2) Attend one individual session with a counselor at Mainstream to discuss drugs and alcohol."
Heck of a deal!
The flaw, the task force insiders suspect, is that many, maybe most, ignore the diversion offer and suffer no consequences.
Michael Harper, insurance industry representative to the task force and former Trail Blazer player: "We tell people there is zero tolerance. It isn't true."
Linda Powell-Grady, adolescent substance abuse specialist at Mainstream, is a treatment representative: "Many of these MIP kids fall through the cracks . . . We encounter kids bragging about getting four MIPs with no consequences."
And the kids know it, came the cry from the specialists around the table.
So how should we treat MIPs who become MIAs - and maybe future road-combat KIAs?
If zero tolerance were more than hot air in a windsock, we would impound the cars they drive until they met the diversion terms. Mom and dad would pay attention, too, especially if the car was theirs.
But alas, the task force approach is more sober. Young drinkers can become old drunks, the group agrees. So the public should want a law that makes sense; that means what it says about MIP; that can be coordinated among counties; a law whose effects can be tracked so that the police, courts, treatment facilities, drivers-licensing agencies and the insurance industry can follow up on high-risk offenders.
The task force probably also needs to identify the MIP behavior that best predicts continuing risk to the youths and society.
Then consequences appropriate to the risk can be targeted and intensified, says Jim Peterson, director of Mainstream. Multnomah and Clackamas counties refer youths charged with drug and alcohol violations to this agency for assessment, education and treatment diversion services.
"The intent," says Peterson "is to get youths and their families to look at what that behavior means to them, and what the risks are to them, and then to make better choices."
Better choices than ending up in a hospital or on a mortuary slab.
Robert Landauer is editorial columnist of The Oregonian. He can be telephoned at 221-8157 or reached by mail at 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland 97201.
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