Susan Sebulsky isn’t ashamed that her nine-month-old son took his first steps at a Regina courthouse.In a way, she was finding her footing, too.She’d been stuck in a vicious cycle of drug abuse, crime and jail for years, and had reluctantly agreed to take part in drug treatment court without any real expectation it would change her life.Drug treatment courts, often called therapeutic courts, generally give an accused the opportunity to avoid jail time by addressing the underlying issues that cause their criminal behaviour. The focus is treatment, not incarceration.Susan Sebulsky sold drugs and stole property to buy herself crystal meth. (Submitted by Susan Sebulsky)Now, 13 years after taking that leap, Sebulsky has been hired by Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice to be the co-ordinator of the province’s new drug treatment court in North Battleford. It’s one of 23 across Canada that share $10.6 million in funding from the federal government.”It’s definitely surreal,” Sebulsky, 49, said. “If you would have said, ‘Susan, one day you’re going to run a drug court,’ I would have said, ‘You’re crazy. That’ll never happen.'”Sebulsky’s journey is proof of what’s possible, but not guaranteed.Anything for a fixSebulsky, who grew up in Saskatoon, was no stranger to drug use in her teens and 20s. But it wasn’t until she began using crystal meth that she “really spiralled” and started selling drugs to get her next fix.The criminal charges started stacking up for trafficking drugs, theft and breaching conditions.”Half the time I didn’t know what day it was, let alone I had a court date,” Sebulsky said. “I kept getting re-released, re-released, re-released, and then of course, I would do the exact same thing, right?”Sebulsky wasn’t looking for help to quit using drugs. She had accepted her addiction was a disease that would likely kill her.An article in the Calgary Sun on Sept. 8, 2011, reported Susan Sebulsky and her then-boyfriend had warrants out for their arrest. (Calgary Sun)In 2011, she sunk to her lowest point after she saw a wanted ad with her face in the Calgary Sun. She tried to hide out in Saskatchewan, but was arrested and sent to Pine Grove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert.Sitting in a jail cell, sober, she realized she was in serious trouble. She was newly pregnant and facing up to three years in a federal penitentiary. She didn’t want to be separated from her baby after the birth.”I was terrified,” she said. “I had heard about this drug treatment court program and I thought, ‘Well, what do I have to lose?'”A guilty pleaSaskatchewan opened its first drug treatment court in Regina in 2006, followed by a second in Moose Jaw in 2009, and now a third to serve the Battlefords and west central region.Sebulsky qualified for the program because she was deemed a high risk to reoffend and high needs, meaning she needed a more intensive treatment program to address her substance abuse disorder.Susan Sebulsky gave birth to her son in May 2012, and started court-supervised treatment and counselling a few months later. (Submitted by Susan Sebulsky)She wouldn’t have been eligible if she had faced charges related to violence, weapons, hurting children or selling drugs for commercial reasons.Sebulsky admits she thought drug court was a “get out of jail free card.”But she soon realized otherwise.First, she had to plead guilty. Then, she was required to take part in a 12- to 18-month program, with hundreds of hours of treatment and counselling, as well as random drug-screening tests and court appearances before the judge every week or two.If Sebulsky didn’t stick with the program, she’d go to jail.A kinder courtDrug treatment court is more than a courtroom and program centre. It’s a team. A judge, court staff, prosecutors, defence counsel, probation officers and a bunch of health-care workers and community agencies work together to help an offender stay on track in their court-supervised treatment.Capacity depends on the availability of housing, treatment spaces, counsellors and other resources. The Regina court can take 30 offenders, while Moose Jaw and North Battleford can handle seven and eight, respectively.Judie Birns, the manager of Regina Drug Treatment Court, remembers Sebulsky’s early days in the program.”She was scared. She was unsure about what she was getting into,” Birns said. “This is not easy, especially with an infant under your arm, changing everything – who you talk to, who you hang around with, repairing relationships with family, learning how to do things differently with a moral compass. Like, you have to change the way you think.”Susan Sebulsky was able to take her son to court appearances, as well as meetings at the program centre with the court co-ordinator, probation officer, psychiatric nurse, counsellors, social workers and others. (Submitted by Susan Sebulsky)Looking back, Sebulsky describes how fear became a flicker of hope.She and her son had a place to call home in a supportive living program called Kate’s Place, run by the Salvation Army. And she received encouragement in what seemed the unlikeliest of places: the courtroom. The judge asked about her son, and applauded her progress.”To the naysayers who don’t believe judges should be engaging in this way, I would say, ‘We have to try something different,'” says provincial court Judge Murray Hinds, who served in Regina Drug Treatment Court for 16 years.WATCH | Susan Sebulsky describes the time she received applause in drug court: Susan Sebulsky describes the moment she was applauded in drug courtSusan Sebulsky recounts the support she received at Regina Drug Treatment Court.Hinds considers his work with people such as Sebulsky to be the “most gratifying” of his career.More than 150 people have graduated from Saskatchewan’s drug treatment courts, and more have benefited from some programming.Hinds has no doubt it’s reducing crime.”These are not people who had jobs. They were committing many crimes to support their drug addiction,” he said.Regina provincial court Judge Murray Hinds shakes hands with Susan Sebulsky upon her graduation from drug treatment court in April 2014. Hinds, who met with participants on a regular basis, said he became invested in their success. (Submitted by Susan Sebulsky)No guaranteesNot everyone graduates. Not everyone stays crime-free. Some people have left the program and relapsed. Some have later died from an overdose.That’s the complex reality of addiction, mental illness, poverty, and the other social and economic pressures that wear people down.”They’re all successes because they tried, in my opinion,” Birns said. “They’ve all tried to change their life.”Susan Sebulsky kayaks at Jackfish Lake near Cochin, Sask. She was encouraged to find healthy hobbies during her time in drug treatment court. (Bonnie Allen/CBC)Decades of research shows that people who graduate from the program or engage for a significant length of time are far less likely to commit more crimes, and that drug treatment courts save money by keeping people away from expensive interactions with police, hospitals, courts and jails.But critics point to gaps in the research. For example, success is often gauged only by the track record of graduates, and not dropouts. Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice doesn’t have statistics for how many people don’t complete the program.A study of Calgary’s drug treatment court released in 2022 revealed that of those admitted to the program between 2016 and 2019, just over 51 per cent formally graduated.Full circleSebulsky’s greatest fear was that she wouldn’t find a job after graduation. She had a criminal record and limited employment skills. But she was quickly hired to help high-risk youth on the streets of Regina and then gang members inside the penitentiary in Prince Albert.When she heard about the new drug treatment court opening in North Battleford, she knew she wanted to work for the program she believes saved her life.Susan Sebulsky has worked hard to rebuild relationships with her parents and her daughter, and she’s proud her son has only ever known a healthy version of her. (Submitted by Susan Sebulsky)Now, in the basement of a government building in North Battleford, she operates a program centre with leather couches, snacks and a coffee machine. She helps people get housing, family doctors and referrals to detox and treatment; she keeps them on track with drug tests, court appearances and counselling; and she doles out pep talks and hard talks.Tamara Rock, a federal prosecutor, said offenders who don’t trust the judicial system benefit from having a court co-ordinator who’s been in their shoes.”Susan is a gift,” Rock said. “The therapeutic court has an element of understanding and forgiveness and moving forward in a more supportive way for people who really do feel like there’s no place for them in society.”Sebulsky is not the only graduate now employed by the Justice Ministry. Meagan Jasper, who shared her recovery with CBC News in 2021, is the co-ordinator for the Moose Jaw Drug Treatment Court.No one is more delighted than their mentor Judie Birns.”It makes me emotional,” Birns said. “This is why I do what I do.… Like, I had to pinch myself.”Susan Sebulsky has started work as the therapeutic courts co-ordinator in North Battleford, Sask. It’s the third drug treatment court in Saskatchewan. (Bonnie Allen/CBC)Sebulsky is proud her son has only ever seen the healthy version of her, and that she can help people who are in the same position she once was.She can’t do the hard work for them. But she can give them hope.”I feel really blessed because I’ve come full circle.”WATCH | Sask. woman says drug court saved her life. Now she works in one. ‘It’s surreal’: Graduate of Sask. drug treatment court hired to run newest locationSusan Sebulsky was selling drug to feed her crystal meth addiction. Then, drug treatment changed her life. Now, she’s been hired to run Saskatchewan’s newest drug court.
From dealing drugs to running drug court, how this Sask. woman came full circle
