BEXAR COUNTY - – It is a program that focuses on people involved with domestic violence, but it’s not for the survivors. It’s for the offenders.
The Bexar County Reflejo Court, Court 13, is for first-time domestic violence offenders dealing with substance use. They are put in an intensive program that takes around a year to a year and a half.
“It was on December 10, which is my sobriety date; I ended up going back to jail for my last time. That was when my whole life turned around,” said Reflejo Court graduate Megan Moran.
After a series of arrests involving substance use and a first-time domestic violence offense, Moran ended up in the Reflejo Court.
The court is overseen by Judge Rosie Speedlin-Gonzales and supported by other judges. The simple goal is to reduce recidivism, but achieving that takes a whole lot of work.
Moran wound up in the court’s Pathways to Healing class with about 10 other people in front of instructor John Diego Vacca.
Vacca is the Bexar County Re-Entry Manager for the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions, which has formed his professional background in community healing. He runs the Reflejo Court’s Pathways to Healing Class.
“The country that we live in, in the state of Texas, we want to punish the violence. We need to heal the violence, just like we heal the mental health disorders, just like we heal the substance abuse,” Vacca said.
He believes the key to the program’s success is unlocking and stopping generational trauma.
“We have found out that they were victims first. They were offended. First, someone offended them through sexual molestation, through being burnt by cigarettes, beaten down to a pulp,” Vacca said.
They first have to be willing to open up, which Vacca said is built into their curriculum.
“They then learn, ‘I’m the one that’s causing the problem. I’m the one that needs to work on myself,’” Vacca said.
In 26 sessions that last about a year and a half, the participants learn how to deal with that trauma and regulate their emotions so they don’t continue abusing people and substances.
“I teach them how to meditate (and) how to sit in sacred space,” Vacca said.
Vacca said allowing these people to slip through the cracks will continue to burden the community’s safety and money.
“Because if you leave them in jail, they’re just going to become worse. And then the taxpayers, we’re paying for that.
They’ve graduated 28 people in three years, and Vacca said 27 have not re-offended.
This year, they won the Reuben G. Reyes Award for Outstanding Specialty Court team.
“Every area of the state of Texas had to nominate us to receive this award,” Vacca said.
Fueling that accolade are people just like Moran, who is now a thriving, reformed member of society.
She’s seen her part in the damage caused, faced it, and has finally broken her generational cycle of trauma.
“I didn’t know anything about a healthy love, even respect,” Moran said. “Learning how to respect myself, my boundaries, just my being and then trusting.”
She’s now helping other people, letting them know there’s help and hope.
Anyone interested in learning more or participating can attend the annual Reflejo Court commencement, symposium and luncheon.
It’s on Friday, July 16, at the Family Services Neighborhood Place at 3014 Rivas St.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the event is from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.