Court-assisted recovery program honors graduates

“In the beginning it was fun,’’ he said. “. . . It was the thing to do, until I began doing it alone, until it became a priority.’’

The 54-year-old Mattapan resident has no problem talking about his past. More importantly, he has no regrets. He knows he has his life back.

Yesterday afternoon, Essex and six other recovering addicts were honored as graduates of the Court Assisted Recovery Effort, known as CARE, a program established in 2006 by Boston’s US District Court, in collaboration with the US Probation Office, the US attorney’s office, and the Federal Defender’s Office.

A one-year voluntary program, CARE mostly targets individuals with long histories of substance abuse who remain under supervision of the Probation Office after they complete their prison sentences. It seeks to provide treatment, counseling, and employment opportunities to recovering addicts, using the federal criminal justice system to enforce a structured regimen on the participants.

“The participants in the program are actually undergoing very intensive supervision,’’ said Chief US Probation Officer John M. Bocon. “The end goal of our program is to have an individual that is sober, law abiding, and employed.’’

Easier said than done. To get credit for the program, participants must attend court, weekly in the beginning and monthly by the end of the year, to discuss their progress with Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin. They must pass frequent drug and alcohol tests and must attend regular sessions with their treatment providers.

Abiding by these rules has rewards.

In addition to praise from the judge, the probation officers, counselors, and fellow participants, the rewards for successful completion of the program is a one-year reduction in the federal supervision period for graduates.

Failure, too, has consequences. If they are late to court, they lose a week’s worth of credit. An unexcused absence from a counseling session means more lost credit. A relapse or a criminal offense could lead to a few hours of community service or weeks or even years in jail.

But yesterday’s emotional ceremony in a courtroom at the John J. Moakley Courthouse celebrated the participants’ successes. It was a time for the graduates to share their stories and offer thanks to their loved ones.

Gay A. Finley, 44, who started abusing drugs and alcohol when she was 15, finished the program in 2 1/2 years, relapsing six times along the way. But yesterday - holding her CARE graduation certificate, a validation of her perseverance - Finley could not stop smiling.

“I was wrong,’’ she said. “I was just too stubborn to admit it.’’

A recovering heroin addict, Danny DiPascale of Malden said: “I was a puppet to my disease. It told me what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.’’

William F. Sullivan, an outpatient clinician who worked closely with DiPascale, said programs such as CARE provide a variety of resources and immediate attention to addicts.

Bocon declined to give a dollar figure for the program’s costs, adding that his office does not “view it as an additional cost.’’

“We have to supervise individuals anyway,’’ he said.

US Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. was scheduled to speak at yesterday’s graduation ceremony, but could not make it because of “transportation problems,’’ said Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf.

In a video, Holder congratulated the graduates for their willpower and determination.

“You always summoned the strength to keep going,’’ he said, cautioning them that their journey to reclaim their lives has only just begun.

After the ceremony, Wolf invited the graduates, current participants in the program, and their friends and families to a reception outside the courtroom.

“Of course, there’s no alcohol,’’ he joked. “But you wouldn’t want that anyway.’’