Breaking the chains

When Henrico resident John Adams broke his neck at the age of 25, doctors gave him Percocet to treat the pain.

But when the prescription ran out, Adams craved the highly addictive drug and started to buy it off the streets. For the next 15 years, he dabbled in pills – and then he found heroin.

Adams is one of the tens of thousands of people affected by the opioid epidemic that is sweeping the nation. In the United States, 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Henrico County, more people die from opioid overdoses than from guns or motor vehicle accidents. In 2016, 45 people in Henrico died of opioid overdoses. Last year, that number rose to 64, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

In response to the crisis, County Manager John Vithoulkas appointed the Henrico Heroin Task Force in spring 2016. The task force – composed of department heads from a number of key county agencies – evaluated the crisis, identified responses and devised ways to coordinate efforts.

By that August, the team had created a report with specific recommendations in several key areas: prevention, treatment, communication and the criminal justice system.

The Task Force organized its first large-scale event in March 2017, “A Community Summit on the Heroin / Opioid Epidemic.” The event – which attracted more than 600 attendees – helped put a face on the task force’s effort, said Laura Totty, executive director of Henrico’s Mental Health and Developmental Services.

“We wanted to show that this problem is not just in the next town over,” Totty said. “It’s not bad people. It’s everybody. It really affects everybody.”

Reaching students
Since its first major event, the task force has sought to continue reaching the community at large. Its Drug Take Back days, for example, have been one way to engage citizens. At the most recent take-back event in October, the task force collected 1,086 pounds of unused medication that it then disposed of safely.

The task force also has dedicated efforts to spread awareness about the opioid epidemic in schools.

“Schools are at the heart of the community,” said task force member Beth Teigen, Henrico Schools’ assistant superintendent for instruction. “It’s important to get them involved.”

Since the opioid crisis is affecting young people, she said, it is essential to educate students early.

Education about the epidemic has been incorporated into middle and high school health and P.E. lessons. High schools countywide also have collaborated with the Sheriff’s Office to bring in inmates who are recovering from substance abuse issues to share their stories.

In addition to continued education about substance abuse, one of the task force’s goals for 2019 is to create drug prevention transition programs for rising sixth- and ninth-graders.

Students themselves also have been actively engaged in educating their peers. Last year, students helped the task force with the design, content creation and launch of “Bounce Back HC,” a website to educate readers about the epidemic and provide resources.

In October, for Red Ribbon Week – a nationally recognized drug and violence prevention awareness campaign – students helped put together a six-part video series to inform residents about opioid addiction. Video titles include “Safe Pill Disposal” and “Recovery Behind Bars.”

Getting parents involved has been key to spreading awareness, Teigen said. Among other initiatives, several schools have hosted an opioid awareness program for parents and staff members to bring them into the conversation.

‘I wanted a real life’
Another initiative in the county to address the opioid epidemic is Sheriff Michael Wade’s ORBIT (Opiate Recovery By Intensive Tracking) program to help inmates recover from opioid addiction and to learn life skills that will help them after their release.

In a survey conducted by the Sheriff’s Office last December, 87 percent of Henrico jail inmates who responded identified drug involvement as a direct or indirect cause of their incarcerations. And 47 percent of inmates chose opiates as their drug of choice.

“I think it’s a crime that other jails don’t have substance abuse programs,” said Wade, who also is a member of the task force. “Being able to take the inmates while they are in jail and give them a chance to work on their addiction, which essentially landed them there, is the right thing to do.”

A major component of the ORBIT program is community engagement. According to the task force’s Aug. 1 update, ORBIT participants had provided more than 65,000 work hours to the county, participating in tasks such as landscaping, grass-cutting, washing school busses and painting county buildings.

Adams, who entered the ORBIT program after landing in jail because of a DUI in 2015, was on the painting team during the work crew phase in the program. He remembers the program being like a “boot camp.” This was one of the ways in which it was effective, he said.

Adams first used crack cocaine when he was 17 years old and suffered from substance abuse issues until he decided to get clean in his forties. Before serving his jail term and entering into the ORBIT program, he received a scholarship to participate in the McShin Foundation recovery program. He entered jail with a commitment to continue his journey to recovery.

“I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he said. “I wanted a real life.”

Outlining goals
To help prepare inmates for real life outside the jail, ORBIT participants go on work release, can learn vocational skills, and receive training in areas like writing and resume building.

They also speak in high schools countywide to educate students about substance abuse.

“There is not a program around that is more involved in the county than ours,” Wade said. “Inmates visit schools and are openly endorsed by the community.

“Henrico is more than just employees. You really do work together with people and work together with agencies. And the task force has been an example of that.”

Of the 57 people who have completed the ORBIT program, only one has been re-arrested, Wade said.

With continued concentration of certain initiatives like the program, the task force is constantly aiming to enhance the impact of its work.

“When we understand the challenges and combine all of our efforts, we are able to support each other,” Henrico Fire Chief and task force member Anthony McDowell said. “Having that communication is very effective. It helps us to recognize gaps early on.”

Division of Fire officials hope to aid the work of the task force through the development of a mapping program to identify where opioid overdoses are occurring throughout the county. Such a program would help identify trends and guide prevention efforts, McDowell said.

Other goals for the task force in 2019 include developing an Office Based Opiate Treatment program; continuing to find options for establishing a Comprehensive Harm Reduction program; and exploring ways to enhance best practices for recovery homes.

“Being able to help people get clean, pick up their lives, and be successful – that’s what it’s all about,” Totty said. “It’s the right thing to do, and there’s a tremendous need. There is nothing harder than sitting with a parent who has lost their child because of an overdose.”

Adams has been clean since Jan. 6, 2016, just before the task force began.

Today, he is a manager at a Henrico trucking company whose officials once said he could never work there again because of his substance abuse problems. He is “best friends” with his father, who he had previously not spoken with for at least 20 years. And he is giving back to his parents, from whom he once stole to pay for heroin.

Recovery starts, Adams said, with wanting to get better.

And in in some ways, the Henrico Task Force mirrors this attitude.

“The first step in dealing with the issue is admitting that the county has an opioid problem,” Wade said. “The task force is Henrico saying that we have a problem and we want to fix it.”