Kentucky judges and court staff will be offered opportunities to learn more about addiction, recovery and treatment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Kentucky will soon offer an educational program to its judges and court staff that will provide "trauma-informed, evidence based content" around the issues of opioid- and substance-use disorders, treatment and recovery as a way to help them make informed decisions in cases that involve substance-use disorders.

Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr.
(Photo by Melissa Patrick)

The program is called RESTORE, for "Responsive Education to Support Treatment in Opioid Recovery Efforts." It is part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort, or KORE, which is funded by a $10.5 million federal grant. 

"We want to prepare our court officials to make decisions that support recovery rather than to hinder it," Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. said as he announced the program in the state Supreme Court chamber. "Our vision for RESTORE is that we will gain a shared understanding of substance use disorders and embrace best court practices in courts in dealing with this disease all across the commonwealth."

State Justice and Public Safety Secretary John Tilley alluded to the need for this education in March when he told a room full of visiting Fulbright scholars at the University of Kentucky that Kentuckians with addictions are treated differently across the state when arrested, depending on judges' understanding of addiction and the availability of wrap-around services to help offenders.

"It's incredibly disparate, and it's unjust," Tilley said at UK. "It is injustice at its best." He was unable to attend the launch of the program because of scheduling issues.

The program does not offer a required course of action for the judges to follow for such offenders, but to laughter in the room full of judges, Family Court Judge Janie McKenzie-Wells of the 24th Judicial Circuit said, "When the chief makes a suggestion, we usually take it."

She then added, "Obviously you have to buy in to this program and part of the educational piece . . . is to sell what we are doing to the judges and staff."

The program will consist of two one-day summits in each of Kentucky's seven appellate-court districts. The summer session is titled "Understanding Opioid and Substance Use Disorder;" the fall session is titled, "Understanding Treatment and Recovery."

Minton said the justice system offers a unique opportunity to help people with substance-use disorders.

"The decisions made at each point of contact within the justice system can profoundly affect the recovery process of each adult, youth and family who interacts with the courts," he said. "We have a duty to understand what research puts forth as the most effective court processes, the most effective practices, interventions and treatment models that can support lifelong recovery."

Wendy Morris, commissioner of the state Department for Behavioral Health, Development and Intellectual Disabilities, which oversees KORE, said Kentucky's collaboration across departments on this issue is unique.

As examples, she pointed to the Department of Public Health's commitment to harm reduction, the Department of Community Based Services' work with families who are affected by substance abuse, Medicaid's robust array of treatment options, judges who volunteer their time in drug and family courts, and their own work to oversee it all. She added that the involvement of the criminal justice system will provide yet another opportunity for intervention with this population.

Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, said the state's collaborative efforts against what he called "the worst drug epidemic our country has ever seen" are paying off.

Ticking off a long list of things the state is doing to combat this epidemic, Ingram said the numbers show that we are headed in the right direction, with fewer emergency-room overdose deaths and fewer hospitalizations in 2018 than the prior year, and an upcoming report that will show for the first time in 15 years, overdose deaths in Kentucky are declining.

"It's been a long fight, but we are beginning to see some progress," said Ingram. "And it's really because of these kinds of collaborations."

McKenzie-Wells talked at length about the Johnson County Community of Hope, a program that works in Family Court to address a whole array of issues commonly faced by people with substance-use disorders, whether that be access to housing or as is often the case, the need for a gas card to get them where they need to go.

She reminded everyone that whether you know a person with a substance-use disorder personally or not, these are people who live in our communities and need our help. "This is a community problem, so let's work on the solution as a community," she said. "And I think that's what RESTORE is aimed at."

Law allowing petition for involuntary drug and alcohol treatment was passed in 2004, but is seldom used; big problem is cost

Information about Casey's Law can be found at
caseyslaw.org/KY_Files/About.htm

A law that allows families and others to file a petition to request involuntary, court-ordered drug treatment for their loved ones has been "slow to catch on around the state, even though the number of overdose deaths continues to rise," Miranda Combs reports for Lexington's WKYT-TV.

Combs reports that from December 2017 through April 2018, Rowan County attorneys filed 19 petitions under Casey's Law -- but before that, they had never used the law to involuntary order drug treatment. The law has been around since 2004.

"The law is for involuntary treatment," Combs writes. "This means a friend, co-worker or family member can file a petition requesting a judge order them to drug treatment. If the user doesn't follow appointments and court dates, a warrant can be issued for their arrest."

Assistant Rowan County Attorney Ashley Adkins, who coordinates the Casey's Law petitions, told Combs that after studying the law she quickly realized that the main barrier for family members to use the law is the expense, which she said costs about about $500 to execute.

"A lot of these families spent money in the past for their loved ones to go to rehab," Adkins says, "They've given them money to help support them so they don't have anything when they come to us. So we realized, if we want to make this work for everyone, there has to be funding available."

To help defray this cost, Adkins told Combs that the county had received a $20,000 grant through Pathways, an addiction resource center, that covers the full cost for families and friends to file a petition under Casey's law, and is also used to help fund the county's syringe-exchange program and efforts aimed at preventing drug abuse.

"The success of the county's way of operating has put Adkins on the road, teaching other counties how to successfully navigate Casey's Law," Combs writes.

"A lot of counties have had some confusion about how it works, or who pays for it," Adkins said. "You run into a lot of roadblocks that you learn along the way. So a lot of counties are just now starting to take advantage of Casey's Law."

Brad Stacy of The Morehead News wrote about a local effort organized by Adkins to educate their community about Casey's Law in January.

He reported that the Rowan County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy board and the county attorney's office held two free Casey's Law trainings in January, including how to manage the legal processes.

The class was led by Charlotte Wethington, who was instrumental in getting the law passed after losing her son Casey to a heroin overdose in 2001. She has since dedicated herself to advocating for Casey's law, which is officially called the "Mathew Casey Wethington Act for Substance Abuse Intervention."

In March, Beth Warren of the Louisville Courier Journal wrote a detailed article showing families and others how to invoke Casey's Law in Louisville. Warren notes a webpage with a step-by-step guide and video on to file a petition in Louisville, which links to another statewide resource: caseyslaw.org/Treatment.htm. She noted that 60 petitions were filed in Louisville in 2017, compared to 27 in 2016.

Warren also notes that parents and others who need added support with Casey's law can ask to join the closed Casey's Law group on Facebook, which has over 1,500 members.

In February, Sam Knef of the Tristate Homepage wrote about a Henderson woman who was forced into rehab through Casey's Law, but not before her family met some roadblocks from a local attorney.

Taylor Willoughby, who was addicted to drugs and ordered into treatment through Casey's law, told Knef, "If they hadn't forced it on me, I don't think I would be alive today."

But her mother, Teresia Johnston, told Knef that when she initially called a local attorney, he "kind of laughed me off, said it doesn't work unless they put themselves in rehab," and called the law "a joke."

However, the Henderson County attorney disagreed and told Knef that Casey's law is an effective way to get people into treatment before they get arrested.

“Court ordered treatment is just effective or more effective as that treatment that somebody decides to go in themselves,” Steve Gold said. “So I’m a believer.”

Knef also notes that the cost of court fees and treatment are huge deterrents to the law, but adds that there are many state-funded centers that offer court-ordered rehab for free.

Weekly newspaper in Woodford County keeps a spotlight on the local drug problem, but also on someone in recovery

The two headlines at the top of last week's front page of The Woodford Sun were a reminder of the depth, breadth and impact of the opioid epidemic: "Woodford County drug overdoses up from last year" and "Recovering addict shares her journey to getting clean." The locally owned Sun has been forthright about covering the problem, publishing a five-part series on it last year.

Angie Stewart (Woodford Sun photo)

Its latest major story spotlights the story of Angie Stewart, 46, who has been in recovery for 12 years. Writer Bob Vlach reports that she started using around the time she dropped out of her senior year in high school, and went into recovery after "nearly dying of an overdose and being arrested for stealing a car. A felony conviction became Stewart's opportunity to get into Woodford County Drug Court - and finally get clean."

The Sun's stories are behind a paywall, but you can download our PDF of the latest two here.