ROGERS HAS PLAYED KEY ROLE IN HELPING ARC DEVELOP

Kentucky is leading the way on substance abuse treatment in the nation. Today it is possible for an individual with a diagnosis of a substance use disorder to enter a residential treatment center in as little as 24 hours.

This is something that wasn’t true years ago. Kentucky and the rest of the nation were facing the problem of addiction with little idea on how to stop its momentum. Fifteen  years ago Hal Rogers was aware of the magnitude of this issue and where it was taking us as a region.

Congressman Rogers led the way with a solution by developing Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment, and Recovery)  in 2003 and currently serves 32 counties in Kentucky. Congressman Rogers through UNITE  systematically gave a voice to the solution of addiction. UNITE not only actively educates people about addiction but also provides vouchers for people struggling with addiction to enter into treatment. These vouchers have helped thousands of people financially get the help they needed who wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Even with the help of Operation UNITE, the population of women who struggled with an addiction that were pregnant found it near impossible to find a treatment facility that would accept them. 

Today, October 17th, 2018, Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), the city of Louisa, KY, its elected officials, and Congressman Hal Rogers celebrated the opening of a second Karen’s Place Maternity Center (KPMC).

Tim Robinson, CEO of Addiction Recovery Care, when asked about the impact of KPMC, started with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “A nation’s greatness is measured by the way it treats its most vulnerable members.” Tim went on to say, “These children are vulnerable and by us investing these mothers who are also vulnerable we can heal the entire family.”  Kristen Boggs, a graduate of KPMC who now has two years sober and works as a Peer Support Specialist in the center said that she sees that, “Families that heal together, stay together, and are restored.”

At KPMC, a pregnant woman suffering from substance use disorder can come to KPMC at any point in her pregnancy or up to six months postpartum and stay the duration of her pregnancy. She can then bring her child back to KPMC and continue to receive services for 90 days.

While at the center clients learn additional life skills beyond the dynamics of recovery such as nutrition, baby care, parenting classes, peer support services, and prenatal care. In addition to the life skills that have been developed explicitly for pregnant clients, they will complete a comprehensive residential program. Success from KPMC’s program can be measured by data supporting that 19 out of 22 infants born while their mothers were in the care of KPMC have spent 5 days or less in the hospital after delivery. National research states that on average an infant born into addiction spends 16.9 days in the NICU suffering from withdrawal symptoms. KPMC has been able to lower that number of days by 11.9 days while infants suffer little to no withdrawal. Infants are able to return to KPMC with their Mothers instead of being placed in the care of the Department of Community Based Services (DCBS). All the while their Mothers continue treatment and earn job training skills that will aid them in becoming ready for parenthood. 

Addiction Recovery Care operates a network of 24 addiction treatment centers in Eastern and Central Kentucky. The organization, headquartered in Louisa, Kentucky, offers a full continuum of care including centers for detox, residential, transitional, intensive outpatient, outpatient, medically assisted treatment (MAT), vocational rehabilitation, and job training. The treatment centers are holistic with CARF-accredited clinical programs, medical services directed by an addictionologist, a spirituality emphasis that includes the 12 steps and pastoral care, and a broadening scope of vocational training opportunities for clients. With half of its 500 employees in recovery from substance use disorder, Addiction Recovery Care is leading the way in all of Appalachia when it comes to combining drug treatment and vocational training, resulting in second chance employment. Out of 500 employees, one-third of them are graduates of an ARC treatment program. 

Today there was a theme of hope, victory, and restoration. Women are entering treatment at KPMC and leaving sober, trained in a vocation, and are able to provide for their families. The empowerment of these women changes the destiny for themselves and the generation they raise. To date, 48 babies have been born while in care at KPMC. It was an incredible day in Louisa today. Matt Brown, Cheif of Staff at ARC confidently summed up the event by saying, “Today, addiction is losing.”