Program that led people from court to addiction recovery may be revived

A regional partnership that helped funnel people struggling with addiction from the court system into treatment may be revived, but organizers first must obtain funding, the Gaston County Police Department said.

The Drug Diversion and Treatment/Therapeutic Center was a pilot program announced in 2016 and funded briefly by Partners Behavioral Health Management and Gaston County, said Gaston County Police Chief Joe Ramey.

Candidates for the program at the time were those who had been arrested for a second time on charges related to their addiction, and police and court officials worked with health officials to identify those people, who would then be sent into the 120-day program, according to a previous Gazette article. People who did not complete the program were prosecuted on the original charges. The program at the time was based at Phoenix Counseling Center, and it allowed for a holistic approach to treating addiction, Ramey said.

"Let's just say they had hepatitis or they had some other needs. The other partners would come in and provide those services to them, and sometimes even the family members that are associated with the candidates," Ramey said.

Twenty-three out of the 24 people enrolled in the program were treated successfully, according to statistics provided by Partners and Phoenix, Ramey said.

Despite its apparent success, the funds for the program dwindled, and "then COVID sort of pushed it over the edge," Ramey said.

Ramey said that he is hoping to have a meeting about re-booting the program within the next couple of weeks. He announced his efforts at a press conference on Tuesday that featured local and state officials, including Attorney General Josh Stein.

"We're in a position I think post-pandemic in having learned from the pilot and the funding side and other things that we might be in a better situation to get it back started," he said. "I think we have to look at all the avenues about how we can get the funding."

Gaston County Police is also waiting to hear back about whether they will be able to obtain grant funding for a Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, a program that would allow police officers to assess people and help connect them to treatment before filing any formal charges.

Between that, the Drug Diversion and Treatment Therapeutic Center, and the Gaston County Adult Recovery Court, the county would have a three-pronged approach to addressing the addiction that has devastated so many Gaston County families — if Ramey and other organizers can find funding.

"At the end of the day, I think everybody has to understand that this is a disease and a situation in which not everyone elected to be put in this position, suffering from this," Ramey said. "As a community, we're going to have to find a multitude of ways to address this program. That's the only way we're going to overcome it."

Some of the funding could potentially come from the more than $21 million the county is receiving in settlement money to help combat the opioid epidemic. The county will receive the money, which is from a massive lawsuit filed against opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical distributors, over the course of 18 years. In the first five years, the county will receive close to $9 million from the settlement, according to Stein.

Stein said that money could be used to help buttress community partnerships that are already working to help those who are addicted to opiates.

"There are a lot of these initiatives that are happening across the state and you all have an opportunity to learn from each other and bring new ideas here to Gaston County where it can make a difference and save lives, because fundamentally that is what this is all about," Stein said.

But Ramey said it is too early to say what exactly will be done with that money.

"I think all of these programs would benefit from that, but I wouldn't want to paint commissioners or the decision makers with the settlement dollars into a corner," he said. "But the need is much greater than the settlement dollars will be able to address, so you've got to look for other sources and opportunities to fight this."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Drug rehab program that funneled people out of court may be revived