Local programs are making a big difference for a small number of individuals who have made the best of an opportunity to break free from the grip of addiction and crime.
We applaud the 10 women who last week graduated from Women Recovering with a Purpose (WRAP), and the three men who completed the REALM program, which stands for Recovery Enables a Life for Men.
These programs are offered as diversions from criminal prosecution for people who have been charged, who qualify for community corrections, and who commit to a program. Our society expects the criminal justice system to offer real chances for rehabilitation, yet this only works for those who want to turn their lives around embrace a process.
Which is precisely why the WRAP and REALM programs, and their graduates, are worth celebrating.
As The Republic’s Mark Webber reported from the WRAP graduation, the program aims to help participants maintain sobriety while improving their lives. It takes hard work and dedication for the participants, but in the 10 years the program has been offered, 144 women have graduated. That’s good news for participants and the community because WRAP and REALM program graduates are significantly less likely to reoffend.
This is the textbook definition of the rehabilitation.
While we applaud these programs and the people who benefit, we also want to thank those who participate for sharing their stories. Like the programs themselves, that isn’t easy, either. But in doing so, we believe those who share their experience are showing the way for others who may be battling addiction or are caught in a vicious cycle. By sharing their stories, they are living proof that a new life is possible and that hope is never in vain.
“The toughest part was having to face certain facts about yourself and your past, and I was struggling with a lot of trauma while going through WRAP,” program participant Ashley Shuffitt said at the graduation ceremony, where more than 70 people gathered for a celebration. “But I’ve been sober for six-and-a-half months now. I just have a lot of self-peace and happiness now.”
As Bartholomew County Director of Community Corrections Rob Gaskill said, “Recovery starts with the realization that your life is in shambles, and you have to change it.”
We are heartened to see and hear from people who have done the hard work that comes with such realizations, and who have overcome circumstances that the more fortunate among us may never comprehend, let alone experience in our own lives.
We’re also grateful to those in the justice system – professionals and volunteers – who understand the transformative nature of treatment programs like these. In addition to WRAP and REALM, the Bartholomew County Jail’s drug treatment program – BART (Begin, Accept, Reveal, Transform) – also last week announced a graduating class.
In the three years BART has been offered, 128 offenders have graduated, and just 19 – or 15% – have reoffended. That’s less than half the 33.8% three-year recidivism rate reported by the Indiana Department of Correction in 2021.
Results like these speak for themselves. And hearing from those who have benefitted from these kinds of programs argue strongly for investing even more tax dollars in them. The reason is simple: They save dollars. But much more importantly, they save lives.
