Answer Addiction

Tag: drug court

  • Programs Aim to Bridge Addiction Treatment Gap After Jail

    Programs Aim to Bridge Addiction Treatment Gap After Jail

    Treatment programs both public and private are working to keep newly-released inmates on the right track.

    Programs are popping up around the country aiming to help people with substance use disorder stay sober after they are released from jail—a time that can be especially dangerous for those who have been in forced sobriety while behind bars but were not given the necessary treatment to stay sober on the outside.

    “A lot of people come out of prison, and they don’t have anything, and it’s really hard to be successful,” Judge Linda Bell, who presides over an opioid court in Las Vegas, Nevada, told News3 Las Vegas.

    The program that Bell oversees helps people released on parole stay sober by connecting them with medication-assisted treatment, housing, counseling and other supports.

    “If it’s still available, I’d like to stay an extra month and continue to stay in sober living,” parolee Clayton Dempster told Bell during a recent court hearing.

    Bell does her best to help people like Dempster stay sober, but also imposes consequences if they’re not adhering to the terms of their release by staying in recovery.

    “I have frequent status checks to make sure all of that is going well. If it’s not, I might impose community service or even a short jail sanction,” she said.

    While programs like the one Bell runs, which is grant funded, are part of the criminal justice system, other programs outside the system are also trying to help newly-released inmates stay sober.

    In Baltimore, a privately-funded van parked outside the city jail helps people connect with many of the same services provided in Bell’s courtroom, like medication-assisted treatment—bridging the gap that opens when people are released from jail but not put in touch with ongoing services.

    “This program works,” Michael Rice, a client of the van, told Vox.  

    Without a functioning government system to help people, especially in cities like Baltimore, private organizations and foundations are left providing lifesaving treatment to people at risk.

    “There are plenty of high-threshold options, but not enough low-threshold options,” said Natanya Robinowitz, executive director of Charm City Care Connection, which provides treatment services in Baltimore. “If you had a functioning system, it would be very low-threshold.”

    Because access to treatment can be prohibitively expensive, especially for people who don’t have insurance, jails have become the default detox and treatment facilities for people with substance use disorder.

    Because of that, there has been more recent support for evidence-driven treatment options like medication-assisted treatment, but still only about 12 percent of jails provide it. Fewer still provide services after a client leaves. However, even in the law enforcement community people are beginning to realize that treatment provided in jails and after release can be lifesaving.

    “We know if you are an opiate user you come in here, you detox, and you go out—it’s a 40% chance of OD-ing,” said Carlos Morales, the director of correctional health services for California’s San Mateo County. “And we have the potential to do something about it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Drug Court Helped Man Turn Life Around

    Drug Court Helped Man Turn Life Around

    After struggling with drug addiction, a Missouri man was able to change his life with the help of a drug court program.

    A year ago, Casey Barbero was using drugs and getting into fights, a pattern that had defined more than half his life. When an argument with his father turned physical and the police were called, Barbero was ready to surrender.

    “I just sat there and waited for the police with the drugs on me. I knew it was the right thing to do. It was the right time,” he told The Missourian. Instead of being sent to jail, Barbero agreed to attend drug court, a program that connects people with treatment and jobs in an attempt to help them stay sober and out of jail.

    Nine months later, Barbero is the type of success story that the more than 3,000 drug courts around the country strive toward. 

    “He made up his mind from the get-go, ‘This is what I want, I want a different path in life.’ And he’s done that,” said Felecia Jackson-Qualls, a recruiter for Job Point, an organization that works with the Missouri drug courts to help people find employment. 

    Jackson-Qualls said that Barbero’s progress is inspirational and shows what can happen when the justice system opens doors rather than closing them for people who have struggled with substance use disorder. 

    “It brings tears to my eyes because I’m seeing where he’s coming from. And I see where he’s got to. When you see someone go through those different steps and those hurdles and you see them advancing, then we know we’re doing a good job. That makes all the difference in the world to me,” she said. 

    Barbero said that he’s eager to not even think about drugs, but for now he has to confront his substance use disorder each week when he reports on his progress in front of the court. 

    He said, “I pretty much am there now. I am reminded of it because I have to be for drug court. It’s good to remember, but I definitely don’t need to dwell on it.”

    Barbero now works in construction, and has dreams of owning a home and starting a family, things that seemed far away when he was in active addiction. 

    “I want to be in a place where I firmly know what I am, what are my goals for the future and my future plans. Right now, I have a good idea,” he said. 

    Although some people balk at the strict drug court program, Barbero said that the guidance and work requirements have been helpful. 

    “It’s better to be doing that than the stuff I was doing. I’m taking all that time I did waste and learning about things I’m interested in doing.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Woman Uses Creative Writing To Help Ex-Offenders In Recovery

    Woman Uses Creative Writing To Help Ex-Offenders In Recovery

    “I learned how to live again, how to feel comfortable in my own skin. She’s a Godsend,” says one of Rebecca Conviser’s students.

    It was a cancer diagnosis that first got Rebecca Conviser interested in the power of words. If the Morristown, New Jersey woman didn’t make it through, she wanted to leave behind words for her husband and children. 

    But Conviser did make it through, and now she is using the power of words for something else—helping those in recovery from substance use disorder. 

    According to NJ.com, for the past six years, 79-year-old Conviser as has been volunteering her time by teaching the “Creative Positive Expression Program” to ex-offenders. Rather than jail time, these individuals have been recommended to the drug court programs in Morris and Sussex counties in New Jersey. 

    Thomas Brodhecker, 27, of Sussex County, has been in the program for two years. Since he first entered the program, his opinion of the role of writing in recovery has changed drastically. He says that through writing he has been able to peel back emotional aspects of his life that played into his use of drugs. 

    “I learned how to live again, how to feel comfortable in my own skin,” Brodhecker said. “She’s a Godsend.”

    Conviser fell into her role teaching the writing course after overhearing a conversation at a local coffee shop about the obstacles ex-offenders face when trying to find employment.

    She engaged with the group, which led to her meeting Charles Johnson Jr., the drug court director of Morris County. Johnson thought the writing program would be beneficial for ex-offenders when it came to writing resumes and cover letters. 

    However, the program goes beyond writing employment materials. For Anthony Justo, 27, of Morristown, Conviser’s passion for the program led him to be more accepting of his past. 

    “She presented these assignments with a fiery passion,” Justo told NJ.com. “She was lit up about helping people become better writers and better people.”

    In addition to the writing course, Conviser has helped ex-offenders with public speaking and telling their stories. She has headed up a jail cell presentation, in which school students stand in a 4×6 area designed to resemble a jail cell for 90 seconds to get a taste of what confinement is like for inmates. 

    Conviser says that when it comes to helping people change their lives, persistence is key. “I’m not one of these people who say, ‘oh well, it didn’t work.’ My feeling is well, it didn’t work, we have to move on,” she said.

    Despite her own personal challenges, including two cancer diagnoses and a recent Parkinson’s diagnosis, Conviser says she plans to continue to volunteer, though she has had to slow down a bit. 

    “I’m a person who gives back,” Conviser said. “As long as I can help people, I’m going to continue to do this.”

    View the original article at thefix.com