As recent events have proven, there are a
hundred ways to end up addicted to opioids,
out of options and on the street. There are only
a few options to make your way back. Hello
again and welcome to The County Seat, I'm
Chad Booth while recent episodes of our show
have addressed the growing concern of Opioid
addiction and the ways we are combating it, we
have not recently looked at how to recover
from it. Today we shall take such a journey as
we explore one county's effort to give convicted
addicts their day in court. A special court. So
let's find out a bit about it right now in The
Basics.
Overcoming addiction can be tough, one of the
tools that local governments use to help people
overcome their addictions is Drug Court, What
is a Drug Court? Drug Court is a problem
solving court that provides an alternative
sentence to long term jail and/or prison time.
This alternative sentence includes long term
substance abuse treatment and supervision.
Drug Court takes a public health approach using
a team of people dedicated to the long term
recovery of each drug court participant. This
dedicated team includes mental health and
substance abuse professionals, law
enforcement, peer support, prosecution and
defense attorneys, social services, and a Judge.
Each Drug Court is state certified and each
member of the team attends multiple training
sessions each year.
Drug Courts in Utah have been around for over
20 years! Drug Court was created to combat
the rising number of drug related crimes in all
of our communities. In recent years arrests for
drug related crimes have more than doubled
and the same offenders are appearing in the
same court system over and over. The
traditional approach of jail time and heavy fines
was not addressing the problem of addiction,
which is often at the root of the criminal
behavior.
Drug Court works by recognizing that unless the
substance abuse ends the criminal behavior will
continue. Through frequent drug testing,
treatment, supervision, and weekly court dates
the drug court participant is given not only the
tools to succeed and maintain sobriety but also
the support to stop the criminal behavior and
stay sober.
While the team and the Court are with the
participant every step of the way, Drug Court is
still a voluntary program and takes a lot of
dedication and commitment on the part of the
participant for the program to work
successfully. Each Drug Court participant must
be dedicated to starting to live their life sober
and on the right side of the law. Now that you
have a basic understanding of what a Drug
Court is we will pick up the discussion how the
Drug Court System in Summit County works,
when we return. For the Summit County
Sheriff's Office I am Felicia Sotelo
Welcome back to The County Seat our
conversation today about drug court and
Summit county and a program that they have in
place up there that has a pretty good track
record of graduates joining us for the
conversation Councilmen Roger Armstrong
from the Summit County council and John Evan
who is a detective from the Summit County
Police Department thank you for joining us
today.
Thank you for having us.
out of this program compared to some of the
big cities have drug court programs 25
graduates a year may not seem like much how
is that an impact for Summit county.
I think it is big there has been a program for
many years that helped with the addiction
process and gave them the tools to stay sober
while they are out of the system and it
progresses as a drug court goes it teaches them
how to stay sober and avenues to go down if
they have a chance to relapse or thinking of
relapsing.
Is relapsing does that happen in the process of
the court?
We hope it does not but in the process of the
drug court it is built in because it does happen
usually the first couple of months the first 2 or 3
phases but the program is built around relapse
so it does not punish you per say it does not let
you go out in the community and give back to
the community.
But if you are constantly relapsing is there a
point where you are done with the program and
they refer you back to the court?
Of course if you constantly relapse you have
proven that you are using the tools that you
have been given and the drug court team will
decide whether they stay or go usually they try
not to do that but it has happened in the past
alternative to a sentence in a traditional jail or
incarceration environment.
I do not like to say alternative it's a voluntary
program the person volunteers for it we sit
down with them myself and Deputy Sotelo and
go over the outline of what drug court is about
with the defense attorney and the prosecutor
and they decide if they want to do it. It is 100%
volunteer we do not force it based upon the
client themselves.
So there is a component within this program
that the participants themselves have to come
up with 550 dollars a month to be in they pay to
be in the program. Does that skin in the game
make a difference?
Skin in the game makes a huge difference. If
you look at what we are trying to do is we are
trying to take some of the pressure off our jails
the jails are the worst place to try and
rehabilitate people that are addicted to drugs or
alcohol so this is an opportunity for them to
take an opportunity to take responsibility for
their own recovery as this is what this is all
about it takes financial pressure off our jail
system and it allows them to find a path to
success. You are asking about relapse any kind
of addiction recovery system relapse is part of
that there are people that may go through
programs 1 2 or 3 times and they relapse the 4th
time may be the time they finally recover and it
is all part of the process I think if you look at
what we are dealing with here if you want to
view it as a matter of personal responsibility
then I think it is a system that is largely set up to
fail. If your view is people should not be using
drugs and if they are we should lock them up
you are not giving the benefit to the community
of getting people out of the system and you are
not getting benefit to the offenders of giving
them an opportunity to get well. If you look at
it as a disease model which I think is the greater
trend these days this is an opportunity to treat
a disease we would not take somebody who
was failing to take their insulin or eating food
they should not eat if they have diabetes and
punish them for the we try to get them well a
that is how we approach that particular disease
this is just another form of disease and the jail
system is exactly the wrong place to treat the
disease it's better to treat it on the outside
through the programs that are designed to do
that.
But obviously if somebody is addicted and they
are involved in illicit drug activity that is against
the law the threat of it becomes a lever to try
and help them want to improve themselves so
the regular process does have a place in the
whole system does it not?
I think it does but I think if you look at from a
spectrum there is the person that is out there
who is dealing drugs they are using firearms in
the course of that particular business running
they are selling and using drugs and other illegal
things those people probably do not qualify for
this type of program they are automatically
disqualified but we live in a community where
we have world class athletes want to be world
class athletes and people who admire world
class athletes and want to recreate like they do
and you have tourists coming in for those
narrow terms that they are here to ski and hike
and play hard they get hurt they have surgeries
they are prescribed pain medications for those
surgeries and for some of those people those
pain medications are the route in do we punish
them when the pain medication and they have
become addicted the doctor no longer wants to
write a prescription for the pain meds they are
so addicted they have to get it someplace else
and they slide into heroin especially the lower
economic scale that cannot find another
substitute for that it may not have access to
health care to do that do we punish those
people or do we provide them with a road to
get out.
Keep in mind, this is not our particular program
may or may not be replicated other places. I
think part of what makes our program work are
the deputies we have working in it. John is
unbelievable, Felicia is unbelievable they go so
far above and beyond the simple requirements
of the job to assist folks and probably the best
way to characterize it to assist them in their
own recovery. It's not that there are allowing
them to not take responsibility but they are
monitoring them very closely so the
opportunities that they have to not complete it
are reduced substantially and the opportunities
to do well are increased. And it's remarkable
the relationships that these two form with
people that they are working with goes beyond
a law enforcement officer and offender. Its I
think a special relationship and I am not sure
that happens every place.
So what we do we have 68 people not in drug
court and 25 people in drug court we talk to
those people every day 7 days a week 365 days
a year? There is heavy accountability if they do
something we get them in front of the judge
quickly we can call a judge any time day or night
and they will answer and respond accordingly
but it's the accountability part they know we
are there and we are listening and we also
assist them in getting housing and relationships
with businesses up there in Park City that will
give anybody an interview that we send their
way if they have an opening. We have taken a
holistic approach to it to help them through the
system not getting into the vicious cycle of the
system.
Roger I want to address something that you
alluded to a bit earlier that some people see
this that drugs are bad and people should not
be there they should be punished. Was drug
court a hard sell from a policy and public official
standpoint?
Not for us and I think Summit council we tend
to be on that end of the political spectrum that
will actually consider programs that have an
opportunity to work we saw early on when they
implemented the drug court program we were
seeing successes and beyond and it just made
sense. The legislature opted the JRI initiative a
while back and that's unfunded mandate for
the counties so we do not have a bed to detox
people and a hospital in Summit county we
have had conversation with intermountain
about trying to come up with a bed we don't
have the ability to do that so they detox people
in jail again not such a great place to do it but as
we started and particular as we started to see
the success the first drug court graduation that I
went to was remarkable when you see
somebody who comes into a program at the
end of the line they are addicted to drugs and
probably committing crimes to support that
drug addiction and they are out of resources
suddenly you get them the choice is incarcerate
put them up for some period of time the
legislature changed some felonies to
misdemeanors so we get to keep those people
incarcerated in our jail rather than shipping
them off to the state prison so we can do that I
guess its money that you do not recoup in any
way its money that is supporting them for the
term that they are in jail where as they come
back in so it is lost money. Or you can spend
the money on trying to rehabilitate them and
bring them back as a productive person in
society and it's all part of the mental health
effort for us as well where we have to look at
this kind of illness as a mental illness that is the
problem.
do each of you think people should know that
we have not covered in this conversation. One
thing John that you would like people to know.
Addicts are people too. They put their pants on
the same way that we do, one leg at a time.
Give them a chance. I have seen them and I
have seen numerous people change their lives
just give them a chance.
Do they make good employees?
They make awesome employees.
More motivated than some of their
contemporaries.
When you have a jail sentence hanging over
your head you are very motivated.
Roger your last thoughts.
I think understanding we are in crisis in America
right now when it comes to addiction. We have
to find various ways to deal with that that are
probably nontraditional and it requires us to
change our thinking a little bit and viewing the
people that are addicted are human beings and
trying to find solution that work for society and
for those people dealing with addiction. This is
a very important component for doing it and I
admire John and Felicia and everybody else that
is willing to step and do the work on the ground
to make this happen. It takes a lot of resources
to make it work and I do believe that that is is
keeping people out of the system and providing
them with a way to recover that is more
appropriate for them than the traditional
incarceration system.
Gentlemen thank you for your time today it's
been informative and your passion and
commitment to this whole project and we will
be back and take a personal look at one of the
success stories of the Summit County program
when we return on the County Seat
Welcome back to The County Seat. We have
been looking at the war on Opioids and more
explicitly the battle for recovery. Putting people
behind bars proves to not be as effective as
putting people into a program, monitored by
the court. While as we have learned it is not
instantly a success and it has not worked for
everyone. When it does work, it is a game
changer and a life saver as we find out this week
"On the Ground"
My Name is Katie, I am a mom of three, Ethan
Abbi and Anni. I was put on pain pills when I
was 12 years old. We found out we had no
cartilage in my knees, I went on to upper
narcotics because I couldn't have surgery until,
when I was 23 My Doctor put me on Oxycodone
30's after that is when I lost control. I started
abusing my pain pills, and then I ended up
selling my pain pills for Heroine because its
cheaper,
When we lived in the little white house we had
a little upstairs and every time we got home I
would come straight there and come straight
upstairs, I would have the girls come up with
me and keep them there and keep them away
from them because they were always in the
bedroom doing stuff
I've always had my brother to be there and
watch me and play with me to keep me
occupied from my mom. I really didn't like it.
I ended up losing the house, the kids,
everything. So my sister set me up she called a
few of the cops that we know in town so they
were sitting around town when I pulled into
town and I went to jail, and it took her almost a
year to tell me it was her that turned me in and
she was afraid that I would be mad at her I told
her I wasn't mad she saved my life.
I was offered a program called drug court and I
wanted to take it I wanted help. At first it was a
really hard process I didn't get to see my kids
much I was always at work or at drug court, but
as it progressed it got easier. Its helped me
learn how to live life in society again, I have
been at my job for almost three years which is
something new for me. I jumped around, we
have been in the same house for two years , we
went house to house we have a very stable
happy life, a lot of it is because of the program I
went through and drug court and learn how to
live life that way and how to stay sober without
using
My mom is there for us twenty-four seven.
Even If she is at work she's still here for us she
helps us with our homework she makes us clean
our bedroom which is awesome because its
clean
Now I can stay caught up on my homework, if I
need help I can just ask her if I need anything
like that she will help me,
I would say For my family because we can only
go up, just moving forward in life in a good
positive way, I am just excited that I am here to
see them grow to watch them succeed help
them succeed and teach them to be the best
that they can be,
My advice for families, as hard as it is to think
that your family member is going to turn on you
the best thing you can do to help your family is
call the cops and turn them in so they can get
the help, because if you don't get the help you
will die.
Katie shared with us that she never wanted to
be a drug user, she was never seeking a thrill,
she is one of the many who just slipped off the
edge of a medical regimen and couldn't get
back on the path. I will be right back with some
closing thoughts.
Welcome back to The County Seat. I think that
Katie's comment about never wanting to be a
drug user or thinking that she had become an
addict until it overtook her life is very telling,
and I am afraid not too uncommon. I have had
lengthy conversations with my sister in law who
lives in rural Illinois and is a pharmacist for a
small rural hospital. She has seen the
devastation caused by this epidemic with a
sharp increase in overdose deaths coming out
of communities with populations as small as
800 people, where everyone knows everyone
and most people, even the kids show up in
church every week. These are the kids who
have been captain of the football team, worked
along side dad on the farm bailing hay or
stacking bags of corn or soybeans. It's the mom
who twisted an ankle going into the root cellar,
or grandpa who pinched a nerve and got
treated for pain. These are all people who get
hurt and get a prescription and can never get
off. In most cases, the signs of addiction are
there. Someone outside the sphere of
addiction almost always knows that they are
hooked, especially when the OxyContin has
turned to heroin and an honest person has to
turn to crime to support the habit. Someone
usually knows it, and as Katie pointed out, in her
case, it was her sister who turned her in to the
police anonymously.
The moral to Katie's story is that she would
probably be dead and her kids would be left
behind if she had not gotten caught. What
seemed to be the act of a traitor, in reality was
the act of a savior. And that is the message to
take away from all of this. You see, from my
perspective, people who are strongly addicted
can only dig themselves in deeper, they can't
dig their way out and they don't want to grab
that hand of help until they are off the drug. So
someone has to force them off the drug. Often
the only thing to do is to make that call to get
them into the system and get them off the
street, and in to treatment. Like Katie, more
often than not, at the sober end of the tunnel,
they are grateful for being turned in.
It hit particularly close to home two years ago
when my nephew, who had battled such an
addiction, found himself stuck in a corn field in
his car, high at the time and in desperation took
his own life. I can't begin to tell you how
devastating that loss has been on a close-knit
rural family. And the hard part is, there was
probably someone who knew.
I hope you will take the time to share this half
hour with a friend, or your family.
We'll see you next week ON the County Seat.
My Name is Katie, I am a mom of three, Ethan
cartilage in my knees, I went on to upper
narcotics because I couldn't have surgery until,
cheaper,
When we lived in the little white house we had
have been in the same house for two years , we
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