Arkansas jail reporting successes with drug program; Sevier County effort reduces drug-related crime, saves taxpayer money, authorities say

Holly Odom (left) and Tisha Samuels get their diplomas last week for completing nine months of treatment after leaving the 90-day jail program.
Holly Odom (left) and Tisha Samuels get their diplomas last week for completing nine months of treatment after leaving the 90-day jail program.

De QUEEN -- Scottie Flournoy was hooked on methamphetamines for most of his 13-year-old son Brayton's life, so he wasn't around when Brayton was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 7.

But Scottie's mother, Sherri Flournoy, said she hopes her son can take a more active role in her grandson Brayton's life now that Scottie's clean.

"My addiction to meth took a lot of my life for many years," Scottie said.

Brayton is now in remission. Looking at his father, Brayton put his hands over his face and his head on the table.

"You were mean. You were a drunk," Brayton said.

But the family said it has reason to hope. On May 2, Scottie got out of the Sevier County jail, where he spent the previous 90 days learning tactics to beat his addiction. He will spend the next nine months taking at least three drug-prevention classes a week to complete the program, called Residential Substance Abuse Treatment, which identifies inmates who have committed drug-related crimes and pairs education with their sentences.

The program gives inmates hope, they said.

"I used to say there was like a blanket of depression in this place, like it was something in the dirt," said Kaitlyn Brewer, who's in the jail for a drug-related crime.

Brewer is one of 12 people who was scheduled to start the next round of classes last Monday, Jail Administrator Chris Wolcott said.

"This is like the first opportunity for hope in this county I've ever seen," Brewer said.

The program has a 70 percent success rate for the 86 people who have gone through the 90-day portion of the program. Thirty-six people have completed the nine months of after-care. Of those, only one person has committed a crime again, Wolcott said.

The classes also teach the inmates general life skills, anger management and parenting lessons.

Scottie's sister Sheila was a part of the first class to go through the treatment at the jail.

"All I can say is it helped me to find a way to cope with things and get my kids back and not need [drugs] to get through the day," Sheila said.

Sherri said she knew the change in Sheila was real when she saved enough of her own money to buy her kids Christmas presents. That had never happened before.

Drug-related arrests accounted for roughly 26% of the 1,063 arrests in 2017, when Sevier County began using the program, Wolcott said. In 2018, that percentage dropped to 24% of 1,063 arrests. Thus far in 2019 the percentage has lowered again to 21% of 338 arrests.

Sheriff Robert Gentry credits the program for the drop in drug-related crime.

In 2017, Sevier County sent 203 drug samples to the state Crime Laboratory. Of surrounding counties, Sevier County has the most samples -- except for Hempstead County, which sat at 348. Sevier County has a population of 17,139 as of 2018, according to the U.S. Census. Hempstead County has a population of 21,741.

Sgt. Greg Davignon said his mindset used to be to lock up as many people on drug crimes as he could. When the county started the treatment program, he thought it was a way for inmates to game the system.

"But I was ignorant," he said.

When Davignon began seeing a change in the behavior of inmates in the program, he became a supporter. He thinks the benefits to the program have a ripple effect. People who aren't constantly cycling through the legal system and addicted to drugs can take care of their kids. Property crimes go down. In the long run, Davignon said, the program is saving taxpayers money.

Sevier County is the only jail in the state that has a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program. County officials get $110,253.70 in federal dollars to run the program, said Kenya Buffington, the justice assistance grants program manager for the Department of Finance and Administration. Together, the state and Sevier County match this sum with the county contributing $57,945 toward providing these services.

Besides Sevier County, Arkansas Community Correction, which works with people in prison, uses the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment grant money at its six sites. Buffington said the department is hoping to recruit another jail to start using the substance abuse program this year. The Lonoke County jail also has a similar program that, like Sevier County, utilizes peer mentorship to help addicts, state Drug Director Kirk Lane said.

Scottie said that peer mentorship allows the inmates to seek advice from people who have had similar experiences.

"We relate to the ones who been where we been a lot," Scottie said.

Lane said Sevier and Lonoke are the only county jails in the state with programs like these.

GRADUATION DAY

On May 2, two De Queen churches hosted a banquet and graduation for the 11 students who completed the previous 90 days of classes in the jail and nine students who finished the nine months of after-care.

Five students spoke about their experiences.

Aaron Garza said he ended up in prison when he was 19 after a drunk-driving crash that killed his girlfriend. After that he bounced in and out of jails and prisons.

Like the others, he ended his speech in tears. He thanked his family. He thanked Jesus. He thanked his jailers.

In his closing remarks Garza said to his wife, "And baby, I'm doing it. Thank you for seeing something in me I never saw in myself. I love you."

Garza's wife ran to meet him at the front of the room and jumped into his arms to kiss him.

He later joined his former inmates and classmates to accept his diploma. Wolcott shook the graduates' hands and posed for a photo with each of them in front of yellow lettering that read "A New Day."

The graduates' families and friends eagerly took photos, as proud of their inmates as they would be of any college graduate.

During the ceremony Scottie sat with his family, and he put an arm around his mother. He later said he prayed with his son for the first time.

Jeffery James credited the program for saving his life. He also graduated on May 2. James began using multiple types of drugs when he was 23. Six years ago his life spiraled when his mother died. James said that when he entered the program this year, he was "skin and bones."

After graduation, the students still have to deal with the problems that led them to abuse drugs.

"I don't think you have any children who, when they look up at their mother and daddy, says 'when I grow up I want to be an addict,'" Wolcott said. "They're that way because they made a bad choice in high school, or they were caught in a vehicle accident and got hooked on prescription drugs, or they was raised in a family where that was the norm and they didn't know any difference. And these are also a lot of individuals who have always been told they're not worth anything."

For many, drug use is something that they learn from childhood. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erin Hunter said she commonly hears from people who say a parent shot them up with meth when they were children.

Angela Hibdon, who graduated from the program on May 2, said she was nervous to go back home. In class, the inmates learn they have to change their people, places and things to recover.

"It's really hard to change people, places and things when the whole town's hooked on drugs," said Magan Gilbert, who also graduated on May 2.

But now they said they do feel like they have a support system. Since 2017, the number of substance-abuse support groups in the county has jumped from about two a week to at least one a day, said Kimberle Hundley, one of the program directors.

The number of volunteers at the jail has also risen to about 40, said Carli Sneed, the other director. Five to 10 churches also rotate Sunday church services. Inmates said they have places to go after jail.

THE OTHERS

But not everyone qualifies for the program. People convicted of violent crimes aren't eligible, and even when the crimes aren't violent, such as property theft, inmates have to get their victims' approval to take the program.

Inmates who aren't in the program, like Brandy Green, wish they got the same level of support after they got out of jail.

"Parole officers don't have time to watch us like that," Green said.

The inmates who aren't in the program described difficulties getting mental health care in and out of the jail. Caleb Jones is supposed to receive counseling sessions every week, but in the more than a month that he's been in the jail, he said he hasn't gotten treatment.

On top of mental health care, and regardless of whether they qualify for the program, inmates said that medical care can be difficult to receive at the jail.

Brian Jones said his friend Ambrocio Hernandez has had a toothache on both sides of his mouth for about three months. Hernandez speaks limited English, but Jones translated for his friend.

Inmates who don't get into the substance abuse program rely on each other.

"We're all we got: each other and the jailers," Jody Carter said.

At the Sevier County jail, inmates began a Christian ministry called Got Time. They said the group helps them get by. Caleb Jones creates artwork for the group, and the other inmates brag on his work like proud dads.

Some of them reiterated that the Sevier County jail is a good place.

"It's a pretty good deal we got going on here," Carl Chapman said.

He said the guards care about the people in jail, and he receives better care than he did in other jails.

But all the inmates said the situation in Sevier County isn't perfect. They have to pay to use the phones, and people who can't afford them can't talk to their families or attorneys. They eat the same three meals every day: oatmeal, bologna sandwiches and beans and cornbread. They say they need better soap, better razors, and access to microwaves to heat the ramen they buy in commissary.

Hunter, the deputy prosecuting attorney, thinks that the future of all criminal justice looks like Sevier County's substance abuse program, which she said has helped stop "the revolving door of offenders."

Metro on 05/19/2019

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