MARTINSBURG — It was a meeting of minds - and hearts - when U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito chatted with Berkeley Day Report Center staffers about the area's heroin epidemic as she took about an hour Monday afternoon to hear how they are helping local addicts turn their lives around.
Ronda Eddy, who oversees the local office as well as the Jefferson Day Report Center, took full advantage to explain the many obstacles that still remain locally - especially the lack of a rehab facility.
It was also an opportunity to explain how this facility is a cost-effective alternative to jailing drug addicts.
"But this is how the Department of Corrections has been able to lower their costs - by sending people to us and other day report centers across the state," Eddy said, adding that these programs originally did some drug and alcohol education but didn't provide any clinical services.
Eddy credited Berkeley County Council Member Elaine Mauck, who also attended part of the meeting, for having introduced her to Melissa Swartz, a licensed professional counselor who helped add clinical services to the Jefferson facility in Ranson.
Things are moving in the right direction, she said.
"The one program that we focus on the most is treatment supervision for the highest need client that needs wrap-around services, peer recovery. Fortunately the two funding streams I just received funded peer recovery coaches and community engagement specialists to make sure they have their medicine, are going to their doctor appointments and have a safe place to live," Eddy said.
"Treatment supervision is really about helping people live independently and crime free. So our program serves a dual role because it addresses a public health issue, but also a public safety issue. Our overreaching goal is to reduce recidivism. Whether people can maintain their sobriety and stay in recovery may vary over time, but we don't want them to reoffend," she said.
"We want to take those savings from incarceration and bring them back into the community," Eddy said.
That struck a resounding chord with Capito, who said she understands the plight of addicts who may return to using illegal illegal drugs -especially if adequate treatment facilities and programs aren't available to help them become and stay clean.
Capito, R-W.Va., who expressed surprise to learn there have already been 24 overdose-related deaths in Berkeley County since Jan. 1, said she believes her work on the bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act will help locally.
That's because it addresses the nation's opioid epidemic by expanding prevention and education, and promoting resources for treatment and recovery. It includes reforms to help law enforcement respond to the drug epidemic, and supports long-term recovery programs," she said.
The legislation, which has passed in the Senate, also expands the availability of naloxone, a lifesaving drug that helps to reverse overdoses, and creates disposal sites for unwanted prescriptions, Capito said.
It also provides resources for treatment alternatives to incarceration, such as drug courts and day report programs, that are already being shown to be cost effective.
Following the sit-down session, Eddy said she is "thrilled" with Capito's interest and offer to help in Washington.
Capito said she is impressed with the program and how it is already touching lives.
"I like that this is a full spectrum situation, because you can't separate the health from the justice from the treatment from the interdiction. And what they are doing here has a good success rate, plus in the end saving money by keeping people out of jails," Capito said.