Innovative programs at the Kenton County Detention Center are highlighted in KET’s Journey to Recovery documentary, which takes an in-depth look at the state’s opioid epidemic.
The documentary airs Monday, May 8 at 9/8 p.m. on KET.
“Incarceration for way too long has just been ‘Let’s incarcerate the person and hope that something happens while they are in there, that they have a change of character that happens in some way because of their consequence,’” says Kenton County Detention Center clinical navigator Michael Greenwell in the film. “The Jail Substance Abuse Program is really a new footprint for the Kenton County area. Its primary goal is to help the addict recover from his addiction.”
Opioids – including heroin and prescription opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone – killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The program at the Kenton County Detention Center includes GED classes, counseling based on the 12-step method, and an innovative re-entry program that offers participants who go through detox a shot of Vivitrol, a medication that blocks the recipient’s ability to get high from opioids for 30 days. This is given as the inmates are released, to assist them as they acclimate back into society.
“In a place that is seemingly hopeless and a lot of people would say, ‘I’m at the end of my rope,’ it’s a blessing to be able to offer treatment, valuable quality treatment to putting a stop to that revolving door we all hear about,” Jason Merrick, director of inmate addiction services at Kenton County Detention Center, says in the program. “You know bringing hope into a facility that is steel and concrete and letting these men and women know that they are worth it. They deserve help, they deserve treatment and care.”
Journey to Recovery examines an array of treatment and recovery programs offered across the state, including abstinence-only programs – such as faith-based and 12-step based programs – as well as medication-assisted treatment programs.
The program also interviews many of the nation’s top experts on addiction, including Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and Dr. Robert DuPont, a former NIDA director and former White House Drug Chief who continues to advocate for a reduction in illegal drug use through his role as founding director of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.
KET will also air Connections with Renee Shaw Friday, May 12 at 5/4 p.m. on KET2 and Sunday, May 14 at 1:30/12:30 p.m. on KET.
Connections with Renee Shaw focuses on new trends in treating opioid addiction, including work toward development of a heroin and fentanyl vaccine; new, non-addictive formulations for pain treatment; and brain imaging that objectively measures pain.
Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers talks with KET about legislation to provide funding for opioid addiction prevention and treatment. Viewers will also hear from Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; Volkow; and Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, who joins Shaw on set.
KET serves more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.
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