COEUR d'ALENE - In the last four years, 16-year-old Kearston Anderson has spent almost a year either in jail or at Kootenai Behavioral Health for offenses ranging from drug use to battery.

"When I get bored I want to go use, or steal something, or get into trouble," Kearston said.

About a year ago, Kearston was once again in trouble. This time the judge gave her and her mother a choice - either Kearston would be committed to Kootenai Behavioral Health for an unknown period of time or the girl could choose to participate in the county's juvenile mental health docket.

Kearston chose the latter.

"It's a last-chance program," said Alisha Anderson, Kearston's mom.

The program required what Alisha called an almost overwhelming amount of commitment from herself and her daughter. At first, neither was sure the sacrifice of time and energy was worth it.

"It is a choice," Alisha said. "But at first, it's just a lot of commitment from the parent and child and you feel stressed. There's just so much that you have to do."

During the first phase of the four-phase program, Kearston spent four days a week attending court, counseling sessions and meetings with her probation officer.

"It's not easy," Kearston said.

"They don't really bend either," Alisha added. "Either you are there and committed to doing the program or you leave."

But during their time in the program, something shifted. Both Alisha and Kearston realized the positive impact the program was having in their relationship as well as in improving Kearston's behavior.

"It is a tremendous load to take on, but it can be done," Alisha said. "You just have to have a positive mindset and let it work for you, not against you."

Without the opportunity to get on the juvenile mental health docket, Kearston said she knows she would still be in and out of Kootenai Behavioral Health and engaged in the same activities that got her there in the first place.

"It's a tremendous relief knowing that if you don't want to be that person anymore, you don't have to be," Kearston said. "It's a lot better to start getting on track when you are younger."

On Thursday, Kearston became the first graduate of the program since it began two years ago.

"It's nice being the first one graduating," Kearston said. "It's going to be my first glimpse of reality."

Through the program, Kearston has accumulated 495 days of sobriety and more than 600 hours of volunteering. She said she feels healthier and less stressed because of it. The skills she gained from the program have helped her realize who she is and why she did the things she did.

"You learn to be a better person, but that's not all you learn," Kearston said. "You learn how to maintain it. I can see a lot of kids on the docket being kids who help the community rather than kids who break into houses and stuff."

However, Kearston knows there is a real risk for falling back into her old habits, and because of this, she has chosen to keep going to counseling and participating in other programs through the county. Alisha said she will also continue to attend the support group for parents.

"It grew on me and I actually took full advantage of it," Kearston said. "Now I have a lot of things I am looking forward to doing."

Among those things for Kearston are completing her associate's degree at NIC, pursuing nursing and continuing to volunteer at Harmony Ranch.

"I've seen her develop more and find who she is," Alisha said. "Now I'm seeing her become really passionate about things and going after them. It's just helped her grow a lot."