Drug court participants miss face-to-face support, rise to COVID occasion

Community support is an essential part of recovery for those participating in Regina’s drug treatment court.

But the COVID-19 pandemic is making it more difficult for staff to connect with those seeking help.

“It’s limiting in terms of what you can do face-to-face for sure,” said Judie Birns, manager of the drug treatment court (DTC).

The DTC is a program that was established to address addictions as an underlying cause of crime outside of the traditional criminal justice system. Rather than sending offenders to prison, certain individuals with addictions have the opportunity to go through treatment while under conditions in the community.

Since COVID-19 was first declared a global pandemic in March 2020, DTC participants have seen a big shift in their usual routines and interactions.

Up to 30 participants attend treatment each day for a span of about 13 to 18 months.

Participants go through three tracks in the program: an assessment period of 30 days where a plan is created to help the individual address their addictions, a time to set goals and develop life skills and transition into schooling or work.

“It’s pretty individualized based on what their needs are,” Birns said.

“In our program, I think it was harder on them early on until we got the routine and structure back.”

Routine, Birns said, is extremely important for those working to break the cycle of addiction.

COVID-19 restrictions meant face-to-face treatment and in-person group meetings weren’t permitted. In-person court appearances were also halted at the end of March.

“The participation in court is important,” Birns said. “The accountability to the judge, speaking to him every week about their use or their behaviour and also milestones that they’ve achieved.

As a rewards-based program, she said they try to celebrate milestones for each participant.

“If they’ve been 30 days clean and that’s something they haven’t achieved for a long time … or if they’ve got a job interview or they’ve spoken to their family for the first time,” she explained.

“We try to emphasize the positive in this program.”

To combat the isolation of quarantine, Birns said the DTC had to adapt.

“We all had to learn to be kind of tech savvy and figure out how to do meetings online,” Birns said.

From there, it was transitioning to online group meetings over WebEx – an online chat tool similar to Zoom.

“They do one-to-ones on the phone, we’re doing check-ins every day as we used to,” Birns said. “Every morning they call in and do a check-in as a group. They can call their counsellor after that if any issues arise and they want to do a one-to-one.”

In-person court appearances resumed with restricted attendance numbers in early June and the DTC has started organizing meetings in the park for participants to maintain their community connections as Saskatchewan begins to reopen.

Those limitations of face-to-face contact have been significant for participants still working through their own addictions in the midst of the pandemic, but not devastating.

Birns said participants have adjusted well to the pandemic changes.

“We do (our meetings) as a group on WebEx and we clap and applaud and say congratulations that way,” Birns said.

Participants are still able to celebrate their accomplishments and steps toward recovery with their DTC support systems.

“We got some people to the finish line so people are moving along and doing what they need to do and getting the help I believe they need,” Birns said.

“They’re not indicating they’re in need of anything other than the face-to-face when that returns but they’re getting their treatment needs met and they are all seeming pretty confident.”

There have even been some graduates from the program during the pandemic.

“It’s pretty wonderful to see how well they’ve stepped up and taken on this challenge and moved forward,” Birns said.