Finding a way out of addiction

“Growing up, life wasn’t always great. I tended to run from my feelings when I was younger. As I got older, there was a good amount of time when I was in and out of jail, prison and hospitals on a regular basis,” he said. 

But in 2019, while 12 charges were pending against him, Myers had an opportunity to enter treatment. Upon sentencing, the court allowed him to stay in the Redwood City-based recovery center Our Common Ground instead of serving time in custody, provided he successfully complete the program. After about a year and a half, the now 38-year old Belmont resident finished the program and soon landed a job at the facility. 

For years, both San Mateo County and the state of California have sought to provide supportive services, such as drug treatment programs, that, if successfully completed, could lessen an individual’s jail or prison sentence.   

Proposition 36, the statute that allowed Myers to complete the treatment program rather than go to jail, allows non-violent drug offenders to enter and complete recovery programs in lieu of incarceration. The county’s collaborative programs such as Pathways and the Veterans Treatment Court also offer support, including recovery services, which, upon an individual’s completion, could potentially reduce their time behind bars. 

Drop in participation

But over the years, Deputy Chief Probation Officer Michael Leon has noticed a drop in the number of participants in some of the county’s collaborative programs.

“It does astonish me, because Pathways had an average of 30 clients [at any given time] during the last fiscal year, but we previously would have caseloads of over 70. The Veterans Treatment Court program had an average of 11 people [at any given time] last year, but it used to be 30 or 40 people,” Leon said. 

While it is tempting to attribute the lower participation rate to an overall decrease in drug use, the data on drug-related deaths indicates otherwise. 

The county’s drug-related deaths from some of the most common illicit drugs, such as fentanyl and meth, have increased since 2017. The number of deaths from fentanyl alone increased five-fold between 2017 and 2021. While preliminary data for 2023 is still subject to change, a downward trend does not seem likely. 

Leon attributes part of the participation decrease to legislation over the last decade that lowered some drug-related offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. While he views this as a generally positive trend in that it centered the notion that addiction in and of itself is a health issue and not a crime, there are still unintended consequences.

“Previously, when possession of cocaine was a felony, for example, I would see [lengthier jail sentences]...so if you gave a treatment program alternative of 90 days to six months, more people who are facing lengthier sentences might want to do that,” he said. 

“But now, if you get 15 days for that same charge, then you may not want to sign up for a 60- or 90-day treatment program, because you could just serve your two weeks and get back to your regular life.”

Medical coverage

Adequate insurance that covers long-term treatment costs also becomes an unexpected obstacle for some. Many recovery programs, such as Our Common Ground, are funded largely by the state’s Medicaid program, MediCal. But stricter reimbursement conditions, such as 30-day program limits, or even long lapses in coverage after a simple change of address, create compounding hurdles during one of the more vulnerable steps in a person’s recovery. 

But even though stronger incentives and fewer barriers to entry may increase enrollment, an individual’s success is ultimately predicated on their commitment to change, according to Chris Morales, director of operations at Our Common Ground and an employee of the recovery center for more than a decade. 

“You’d think that a client who has to do 10 years in jail if they don’t complete a treatment program is more likely to be successful than a client who doesn’t have any consequence like that hanging over their head,” Morales said. 

“It’s counterintuitive, but historically, we haven’t seen that to be the case. It all has to do with the internal motivation one possesses to change.”

Support

However, learning about others’ achievements can still nudge individuals in the right direction. According to Myers, who is now in his fourth year of sobriety, it’s a lot harder to succeed if you don’t see people around you overcoming those challenges. 

“One of the biggest external factors that makes people want to get treatment is when they see and hear about other individuals who have succeeded and how their lives have changed for the better,” he said. 

“When you’re behind bars, you’re usually not getting any treatment there. You’re not getting to the underlying reasons why you are doing what you are doing. That is very important for people to learn and understand.”

Both Morales and Leon agree that collaborative programs with wraparound services still increase the chances of success, as they not only provide a broad range of necessary support, but they lessen silos that exist between agencies. 

Morales now works more closely with housing agencies, for example, so that clients do not discharge early from treatment when their housing vouchers become available. Instead, the closer relationship between behavioral health and housing departments can ensure the voucher is available for pick-up once they complete their program. 

Even though obstacles remain, Leon feels that offering more well-rounded support is non-negotiable when it comes to getting people into long-term recovery.

“When you are talking about people who have an illness of addiction, it is very challenging,” Leon said. “There is no easy solution. But it starts with the support that is available.”