CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Individuals struggling with substance use disorder now have access to an updated facility offering new programs designed to equip them with the skills and tools needed to begin leading a better life.
An open house was held for the Kanawha Day Report Center Wednesday afternoon located at 900 Christopher Street in Charleston. The center, which opened in July 2005, serves as a drug-free alternative sentencing program for individuals convicted of non-violent crimes, including drug crimes.
Judge Jennifer Bailey oversees the drug court program in conjunction with the center.
Bailey said the center aims to provide individuals with the tools and skills they need to live a life free of drugs and crime.
“We’re hoping to keep people out of incarceration and give non-violent persons who find themselves in the justice system driven by their addiction, give them an opportunity for rehabilitation, and recovery, and support,” Bailey said. “Opportunities to learn adult life skills, job skills, and training.”
She said the program typically lasts 18 months; however, it can extend up to two years if the individual relapses. The program consists of four phases that span the course of participation.
Phase one consists of intense supervision, during which the individual goes in front of Judge Bailey once a week for four months. Phase two there, court appearances are reduced to twice a month and taper off further as the program progresses.
The center offers 19 classes for individuals to attend including five new programs: Jobs Skills and Money Management, Smart Recovery-Self Management and Recovery Training, Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), MORE-My Ongoing Recovery Experience, and My Life in Recovery.
The classes an individual takes are determined by the judge’s recommendation and the case manager’s placement decision following an evaluation.
Tia Morton entered the program in April 2014 and graduated 18 months in October 2015.
She said the program and the Day Report Center have changed her life.
“My life has just been amazing, because they helped me build it back, taught me how to get back into life, taught me how to do the normal adult things one should do because lost in addiction, I always say it’s two different worlds and it truly is, and I’m just thankful for them,” Morton said.
She noted that one of the most important things she learned was how to write a résumé
Another graduate, Emily Bush, said she battled addiction for 15 to 20 years before she was sent to the program. She said she was broken and had given up before entering it.
Despite feeling angry at the beginning of the program, she said she was able to find herself again.
“Here’s where I’ve learned to be me again, to be a better mother, daughter, sister, coworker just all the things and my life is not in shambles anymore,” Bush said.
Bailey said the program and the center have a graduation rate of over 80%.
Bush said she has come full circle, as she now works as a phase two coordinator at Recovery Point, a facility that offers recovery programs for individuals struggling with substance use disorder (SUD).
She said she now gets to help individuals through a program she’s already completed.
“I get to help them find jobs, and just be a better person, housing, get back in with their kids and everything, I get to see the light come on their eyes,” Bush said.
Morton said that through the program, she was able to be reunited with her three children and gave birth to the 16th drug-free baby in the program’s history while participating.
She said the program allowed her to be reunited with her family.
“I was one of the hard cases, I would not turn myself in to going to rehab, or anything like that had I not been incarcerated and got into the drug court program, we probably wouldn’t be talking today, my family wouldn’t have a mom, my grandkids wouldn’t have a Mamaw,” Morton said.
Bailey said since the inception of the drug court and the report center, it has been the most rewarding job she’s had while serving as a circuit court judge.
“You spend time actually getting to know people, getting to learn about them, so much more than you do persons who are just before you in a regular criminal case, and you learn there needs and how you can help support them and give them opportunities,” she said.
She added that she loves seeing success stories from individuals who have graduated from the program. She explained that some have started careers in banking, nursing, teaching, and she even knows one person who is helping with the West Virginia Judicial and Lawyer Assistance Program.