LaShonda Wilcox, left, was finally able to get help for her opiate addiction when an arrest led to her being placed in Rose Home North, a women’s treatment facility near Syracuse. Tammy Cotton, right, president of the Rose Home board of directors, and others agree there is a significant gap between the need for treatment and the number of facilities available. Studies show only 2 percent of those struggling with addiction are getting help. (Photo by David Hazledine)

WARSAW — It is said a person with substance abuse problems must “hit rock bottom” before they are able to summon the will to overcome addiction. For all too many people, rock bottom means incarceration.

As a result, the face of the current opioid crisis in Kosciusko County is all too often a mug shot.

LaShonda Wilcox was addicted to opiates for years before she was one of the lucky few to get treatment. But this only occurred after she, too, landed in jail.

“There’s not a lot of treatment out there for addicts,” she said. After trying unsuccessfully to be admitted to other rehab centers — partly as a result of her criminal record — Wilcox was again arrested and eventually gained admission to Rose Home North, a small, faith-based center near Syracuse with 13 beds, one reserved for emergencies. She has remained clean and employed since her nine month recovery process.

Tammy Cotton, president of Rose Home North’s board of directors, agreed with Wilcox’s assessment of the treatment situation. Though there are more facilities in Kosciusko County compared to other Indiana counties, Cotton asserted, “The need is unbelievable.”

Exact numbers are difficult to pin down. In fact, according to the IUPUI Center for Health Policy, statewide estimates for heroin use were not even available until 2014; however, roughly 5 percent of Indiana residents 12 years of age or older engaged in opiate use in the last year. The number of those seeking treatment for heroin addiction in Indiana rose 413 percent since 2005.

Closer to home, at an Opioid Crisis Community Call Out held at Warsaw’s Center Lake Pavilion Dec. 11, Coroner Tony Ciriello reported an average of one or two opioid deaths per month, 23 as of that date for 2017.

At the same meeting, Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer cited the need to “expand local options for all users, those with resources and those without.”

The IUPUI Center for Health Policy’s finding corroborated this on statewide terms. “Indiana ranked as one of the worst states in terms of high need and low MAT (medication-assisted treatment) capacity.”

Barry Andrew, drug court coordinator for Kosciusko County, stressed the importance of keeping “non-violent, drug-addicted individuals in treatment for long periods of time” and has found recidivism rates are substantially lower when this happens; however, the balance between the need to protect the safety of the community and improve public health is difficult to maintain; nevertheless, as Sheriff Rocky Goshert noted, the arrest cycle needs to end.

Lindsey Wallick, a probation officer and coordinator for Kosciusko Coalition on Drug Education, hopes K.C.O.D.E, part of the Governor’s Commission to Combat Drug Abuse, can help positively affect the opioid problem by facilitating the flow of information among those on the front lines: law enforcement, medical professionals and social workers, and help fund measures found to be effective.

Vivitrol, for example, is believed by many in the to be a “godsend,” a powerful weapon in the MAT arsenal capable of taking away the urges and painful symptoms of withdrawal. Unfortunately, it is very expensive.

Wallick also cited the need for an organization like Meth Project to focus specifically on the opiate crisis. Another Opioid Crisis Community Call Out is currently being planned for February, though an exact date is yet to be determined.