The courts, area mental health officials and the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services collaborated to develop F.I.R.S.T. (Families in Recovery to Stay Together) with financing from the Governor's Crime Commission. A program in San Diego, a Demand Treatment! Partner community, provided the model.

Under the new program, people who need help will see a substance abuse counselor at the courthouse immediately after court hearings. Parents will receive treatment plans and F.I.R.S.T. will schedule admission appointments with rehabilitation centers within 48 hours. The courts will receive biweekly reports and results of weekly urinalysis tests.

Mecklenburg County officials estimate that about 80 percent of all child abuse and neglect cases involve addicted parents. They believe the new program will protect children by helping their parents mend their ways.

"Our goal is to keep families together," said Chief District Judge Yvonne Mims Evans. "The only way we can do that is if we can provide a service to the parents to help keep them sober, healthy and safe."

Mecklenburg officials tested the program in District Judge Louis Trosch's courtroom for six weeks. Of the 13 or so people who went through it, only two have shown unsatisfactory progress. "It forces them to realize they've hit rock bottom," he said. "It's real hard for addicts to sort of look that reality in the face. This program helps them realize, 'I need to do something now or else they're going to take my children.'"