Pandemic strengthens ACTT program
Coordinators adjusted the addiction treatment model to accommodate restrictions
Kristen Starling thanks God every day for her arrest.
She was about to lose everything, Starling said. She lost her job in January 2020 and had lost both parents to drug overdoses years before that, when she was arrested in May for violating her probation in a drug-possession case.
“God knew. He knew that I was either on the verge of killing myself or losing my kids forever,” Starling said. “It was a blessing that I was taken into custody.”
Starling was admitted to Seminole County’s eight-week rehabilitation program, Accepting Change Through Treatment, in June. ACTT connects inmates with medication, technology and coping mechanisms to help prepare them to reenter the community once released.
The program showed promising results following its launch in April 2019, but program coordinators had to quickly adjust the treatment model last spring to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions.
“We were the first class they taught during the pandemic,” Starling said. “We were pretty much a guinea pig to it.”
Under the revised model, the program became largely self-led. Inmates said they turned to one another for support. Some quit and others were removed, but those who remained said their closeness and indepen
dence prepared them for life after ACTT.
“We didn’t panic, we pivoted,” said Laura Bedard, chief of corrections for Seminole County. “It really turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”
Starling and a handful of women met for the first time in a jail dorm last summer. ACTT previously recruited volunteers, teachers, yoga instructors and dog handlers to help supplement inmates’ curriculum, but many of those meetings were put on hold to accommodate CDC guidelines.
The women were given a lesson plan and worksheets and told to teach one another instead.
It was jarring, Starling said. She had hoped for more one-on-one time with teachers, and the lesson plans prompted the women to discuss their past — the details of which she hadn’t even shared with her family before.
“I never really was open to too many people,” Starling said. “I am very ashamed of what had happened.”
Most people who struggle with substance abuse have experienced neglect, childhood trauma or poverty, said Andrae Bailey, founder of the Opioid Project.
The shame eased with each passing day, Starling said. Opening up to the women around her soon felt natural because they shared similar experiences. Over the course of a few weeks, they came to rely upon one another.
The women taught one another how to identify and avoid things that may trigger them to relapse. They practiced ways of redirecting their cravings into art, journaling and calligraphy.
When Starling feels her mind begin to slip into old habits, she looks at pictures of her children.
“I have to stay on track to be with them,” she said.
The women also used Zoom, FaceTime, and text messaging more than previous ACTT groups to stay in touch with program coordinators, apply for jobs or attend online services, said SCSO spokesperson Bob Kealing.
“The opioid pandemic is just insidious, and COVID has only made it worse,” he said. “But Sheriff Lemma isn’t going to let that stop him and our staff from trying to help folks as much as we can.”
Starling said she learned that a big part of recovery is a positive and willing mindset. She had that, for the most part, until her uncle died of COVID-19 while she was still in jail. He had raised Starling since she was 7. A judge, citing safety precautions, denied her request to go to the funeral.
“I broke down,” Starling said. “I was down for a couple days.”
The other women in the group helped keep her on track, she said. Kealing added that the ACTT participants prepare for the potential challenges and traumas they may face when reentering the community through role playing and scenario-based training.
Teachers began attending sessions more frequently toward the end of the program, Starling said, at which point her initial desire for more one-on-one coaching had switched.
“It was kind of difficult for us getting used to the teacher setting,” she said, because they had gotten so comfortable speaking just among themselves.
Bedard said ACTT will likely continue doing inmateled groups even after all staff and volunteers are able to return.
“They’re better at holding each other accountable than we are, because we haven’t walked in their shoes,” she said. “Giving them the ability to lead groups themselves empowered them.”
Starling completed more than 200 hours of coursework and graduated from ACTT late last year. She was released from jail Oct. 30 and said she keeps in touch with ACTT coordinators and other graduates almost daily.
She communicates more with her family now, too, she said, and she can shop for what she wants without worrying about having enough money for drugs. She has been sober since May.
“I’m very proud of myself that I’ve gone this long,” Starling said. “I don’t ever want to go back to that life again.”