Ex-addicts are turning lives around: Treatment called key to staying out of jail

PROVO — A few weekends ago, Shannon Leeson went roller-skating for the first time in decades.

"It was fun," she said. "I haven't ever done that — go out and have fun without getting high. When you're an addict, you think (getting high) is fun, but it's not."

Leeson has been off drugs for two years now, and she attributes the strength to stay clean to skills she learned through DORA classes at the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse.

"I'd been a drug addict for 15 years, on and off," Leeson said. "It was time to take a turn for myself and my kids. DORA (has) been so helpful. I've never had (this) kind of treatment."

DORA, the Drug Offender Reform Act, passed by the Utah Legislature in 2007, allocates $9 million each year to fund substance-abuse treatment for people immediately after they get out of jail or prison.

Utah County's DORA program, which began in July, has 37 clients, no waiting list and a potential for 90 clients.

For Leeson, Whitney Nielsen, Deanne Palmer and 34 other Utah County clients getting "free" substance-abuse treatment, DORA is more than just a class a few nights a week — it's a chance to live again.

"It's still new," said Joe Chamberlain, an Adult Probation and Parole officer who supervises the DORA clients. "But it really is another giant leap in our ability to help our offenders."

Before DORA, men and women were released from jail left with very little money and no clue of how to rebuild their lives. After spending all their time and money looking for a job and apartment — especially difficult for convicted felons — finding and paying for drug treatment was often the last thing on their minds.

"You have nothing," said 19-year-old Nielsen, who got out of jail in late September. "You spent everything you had, stole money, pawned, got out loans. There was no way I could pay for treatment. Your families love you, but they don't know if they should invest in you."

But with DORA, Nielsen is getting drug treatment she never had before.

It's a better investment than paying to build bigger jails, said Mary Lou Emerson, director of Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Council.

"The justice system is just being paralyzed by substance-abuse problems," Emerson said. "Offenders whose primary reason for committing crimes is related to substance abuse don't really belong locked up. They deserve a chance to put their lives back together."