The Maui/Molokai Drug Court held its 61st graduation ceremony Thursday, with 17 participants completing the final steps of their intensive court-based treatment.

That brought the number of graduates to more than 600 since the court convened in 2000. This was the third-largest graduating class in the program’s history.

More than 80 people attended the ceremony to show their support for the graduates.

“Today we celebrate not only the life-changing successes of our graduates, but also the benefits gained by their children and families, whose lives will be improved significantly because of the choices our graduates have made,” said 2nd Circuit Chief Judge Joseph Cardoza.

Cardoza, who has served as one of the presiding judges of the Drug Court since 2000, recalled, “When our Drug Court was in its infant stages, the participants organized a Christmas party for their families. As I walked in and saw the 264 children in attendance, I was overwhelmed. At that moment it became crystal clear to me that the help we provide adult participants in Drug Court has a direct impact on the lives of their children, the next generation of our community.”

The Maui/Molokai Drug Court is an intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment program for justice-involved adults, established by the Judiciary to address community problems stemming from substance abuse, while minimizing the societal costs of drug-related crimes and protecting the community.

The program currently serves 127 adult clients (123 on Maui and four on Molokai). As an alternative to incarceration, the Drug Court helps ease overcrowding in Hawaii’s jails and prisons, and reduces the impact of incarceration on the children and extended family members of the program’s participants.

The cost of the program per client is $6.65 per day, compared with $140 for incarcerating an inmate, according to court Administrator Dean Ishihara.