Camden Vicinage Recovery Court to Celebrate Graduation

Assignment Judge Deborah Silverman Katz announced today that the Camden Vicinage will celebrate the graduation of 28 participants from its recovery court program on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m.

During the virtual ceremony, which will be livestreamed, the Camden County Bar Association will award a scholarship to a graduate who has excelled in the program.

The event is the first graduation since the New Jersey Statewide Drug Court Program was renamed the New Jersey Statewide Recovery Court Program on Jan. 1 to more closely reflect the goal of the program, which started as a pilot in 1996 in the Camden and Essex vicinages.

Superior Court Judges Kathleen M. Delaney and Francisco Dominguez will preside. Retired Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Holden, along with Camden County Bar Foundation representative Michael Dennin, will present the scholarship. Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Audino and Assistant Deputy Public Defenders Katina Chase and Lou Presenza are scheduled to speak.

The Judiciary’s recovery court program addresses nonviolent, addicted offenders. The program requires completion of four phases of intensive drug and alcohol treatment and recovery, under court supervision. The graduates have completed the rigorous requirements of the program.

The vicinage’s recovery court program has 616 participants and has graduated 824 participants.

The ceremony can be viewed here.