St. Martinville – The St. Martin Parish Council heard an update on the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Substance Abuse Team for Addiction and Recovery Program at its combined committee meetings this past Tuesday.
STAR Program Executive Director Dana Alkadi said that the support of the Parish Council and the community at large has been key to getting the program off to a good start.
St. Martin Parish Sher- iff's Office Special Ser vice Division Commander Terry Guidry introduced the STAR program staff to the council. Sheriff Becket Breaux initiated the program when settlements were made that distributed money from opioid lawsuits to local law enforcement and government of- fices.
“This is our team,” Guidry said. “And when I say our team, I don’t just mean the Sheriff's Office.
This is St. Martin Parish’s team. This is four people that are dealing with 56,000 people.”
Alkadi said that nearly 2,000 people and their families have been served through the program since its inception.
“We care,” she said. “We do it with all our hearts.
“It’s not only impacting the individuals themselves. It’s impacting everyone around them, their families, their parents, their partners, kids.”
Alkadi said the program is not just about recommending people for treatment, it also includes working with them through and after the recovery process.
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The program is available to all St. Martin Parish residents at no cost to them.
Alkadi said juveniles, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, elderly residents and those facing mental health challenges are among those the program seeks to help.
“You guys cannot believe the amount of people that are reaching out and we’re seeing, whether they are at school, whether they are in their homes, whether they walk into the office or through 911 calls, it’s unbelievable,” she said.
The program also looks to help the incarcerated, offering help to those in the parish jail to begin the road to recovery from substance abuse. The program hopes to help with reintegration into the community so they can make a contribution to the community when they are released.
“The re-entry program is not only about the 12 steps, we want them to be able to heal while they’re still inside so when they they’re ready to go outside they’re capable of making a difference,” Alkadi said. “They will be able to stay on the right track. They will stay in treatment and they will be able to make a difference.”
Clinical treatment and 12 step programs are offered in the jail, aiming for successful reintegration and lasting recovery.
Alkadi said that addiction is not the whole issue, so the STAR program looks to address the whole person. With incarcerated people, dealing with what’s next, finding a job, getting the family back and housing are all aspects of the recovery process.
“We want to target this from all angles,” she said. “Get your feeling right and stay on target, and we’re going to help with what comes next. We want you to have hope. We want you to get your family back. We want you to build your self-esteem. And we’re with you all the way.”
The program hopes to develop employment support and placement and transportation coordination with its limited resources.
Strategic partners include judges in local courts, district attorneys’ offices, attorney generals’ offices and parole and probation offices on one end looking for placement of people in the program. The program partners with health care systems, hospitals, licensed treatment centers and rehabilitation centers, mental and behavioral health providers and family services and children’s departments for treatment.
The program has met with the school district to help students with various issues as well. Faithbased organizations, churches, employers and non-profit civic organizations also partner with the STAR Program, she said.
The program also includes a 24-7 crisis response team, she said, in conjunction with other programs. The program also offers peer support for all ages and intensive case management family support programs.
Alkadi said the program is working to become a CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accredited intensive case management program, aiming to reach that goal within a year.
