LAST CHRISTMAS morning, Julian Brooks woke up in a cell at the Rappahannock Juvenile Center. He was given a candy bar and a cup of hot chocolate from the staff; that was all. It was not a merry Christmas.

A year later, he looks back at his 20 days in juvenile jail as a gift.

"If I had been locked up at any other time of year, it might not have had much effect," he says. "Getting locked up last year was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Brooks, who was 17, missed his family even more than he missed the drugs and alcohol to which he was addicted. He did a lot of thinking during those three weeks, and--for the first time in his life--a lot of praying.

Each day, his mind became clearer as the effects of marijuana wore off.

He was coming off cocaine in jail, too. That was hard, he says, because he had been using it almost every day.

While locked up, he also perspired profusely as the synthetic drug Ecstasy seeped from his pores along with the two glasses of milk he was given at every meal. A year later, he grimaces at the thought of how bad he smelled. The one three-minute shower allowed each day did little to make him feel clean.

Brooks decided he never wanted to spend another Christmas Day--or any day--in jail. But he knew he would be back in jail, or worse, if he did not seek help and summon up a considerable amount of self-discipline.

Brooks told court authorities he would appreciate an opportunity to go to Juvenile Drug Court. The court's staff conducted an interview, examined his string of alcohol and drug charges and discussed his situation. He was accepted into the program.

When he left the juvenile jail, he became one of about 30 people between the ages of 13 and 17 enrolled in Drug Court during 2002. Drug Court's participants come from families that reflect a socioeconomic cross section of the community.

Aside from their age, substance abuse and legal troubles are the main thing participants have in common.