MANSFIELD – The overwhelming consensus at Richland County’s Drug Court graduation ceremony on Thursday: this program works.
It was a sentiment repeated again and again by the 12 graduates who completed Substance Abuse Treatment Court through the county. Thursday was the program’s 19th annual graduation.
“This program really does work if you do what you’re supposed to do, if you try and trust in your officers,” said graduate Ryan W.
The goal of drug court is to keep nonviolent, drug-addicted individuals in treatment for long periods of time with close supervision. Clients receive the treatment and other services required to stay clean and lead productive lives, but are also held accountable for meeting their own obligations to society, and to themselves.
“This is not an easy thing to do,” said Judge Brent Robinson. “Drug court is collaborative, all of us working together saves lives and produces healthy, law-abiding citizens.”
That collaboration extends to a number of local treatment providers, including Family Life Counseling, The Catalyst Co./New Beginnings Recovery Services, Rehabilitation Services of NCO, UMADAOP, Reformers Unanimous, Community Alternative Center, ACCADA, Crosswaeh/CBCF, and Firelands.
Robinson also commended the determination of the dozen graduates present on Thursday. Perhaps no one embodies that determination more than Kimberly G., who endured two emergency cesarean sections without pain medication because she was determined to stay clean.
“This is a big moment for many people because ourselves or our loved ones made it through the struggle,” she said.
Kimberly has been sober for three years now. She emphasized that with the drug court program and the support of the community, many lives have been saved – including her own.
“I looked in the mirror and realized I was a victim of my own selfish love,” she said. “But despite our mistakes, we can fix them. If we didn’t have obstacles, we wouldn’t be strong people.”
