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Bush was "in addiction" for about 15 years, in and out of recovery, she said. She started off with pills before using heroin and crack cocaine.

She’s been to jail more than 20 times, but a charge in Morgantown in 2021 was “really bad.� She possessed 3 ounces of illegal substances.

She was accepted to the program on Charleston’s West Side, and her case was transferred to Kanawha County’s Drug Court.

Tonya Swayne, a drug court probation officer, said she didn't think Bush would finish the program. The normal nine-month program at Recovery Point took Bush 18 months.

“I didn’t put any effort in any of it," Bush said, "until I [saw] the staff really does care.�

Today, she’s working at Recovery Point, helping clients look for jobs and housing.

Drug court

Bush is one of hundreds of success stories from Kanawha County’s Day Report Center, at 900 Christopher St., that houses the drug court and the day report program. Both programs offer regular supervision and allow offenders to get their lives back on track without being incarcerated.

Kanawha County Circuit Judges Jennifer Bailey and Duke Bloom established the Kanawha County Drug Court in 2009. There are 30 drug courts across the state.

“We’re hoping to keep people out of incarceration and give nonviolent persons who find themselves in the justice system driven by their addiction ... an opportunity for rehabilitation and recovery and support,� Bailey said.

Participants in drug court can have a variety of drug charges. The four-phase program lasts at least 18 months, but participants can be in the program for up to two years.

Initially, participants attend a court hearing once a week for four months. Those hearings taper off throughout the program.

“We keep them for a long time because we know that that’s the most assured way we have that we’re going to help them sustain recovery,� Bailey said.

Swayne said, when people relapse, she won’t give up on them the first time or maybe even the second or third times. Instead, she will put up different barriers for clients, to ensure the relapse doesn’t happen again.

“I'm not your friend. I'm not trying to be your friend,� Swayne said. “You don't need any more friends, and ... this [isn't] working out the way you've been doing it. So we're going to do it my way.�

There are currently 20 participants in the program. Last year, there were 14 graduates. Swayne said that, because Recovery Point in Charleston is the largest long-term recovery facility for women in West Virginia, a lot of cases from other drug courts get transferred to Kanawha County.

The day report processÌý

Day report is a similar program. However, it's for offenders who have nondrug offenses but still don’t need to be in jail. The program once was run by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, but it was switched to being managed by the Kanawha County Commission in January.

Mark Kinder was hired to run the program. He believes not everyone needs to be in jail.

"If they can come here, and we can help them and get them back into society, that's what we need to do," Kinder said. "We don't need to send them to jail, to cost the county taxpayers money and not get the training that they would get [here].�

Kinder assigns day report participants a case manager to do an assessment. The case manager determines what classes the participants would fit well in and monitors to make sure participants are attending.

Clients, especially if they don’t have a job, also participate in community service events, such as the spring and fall Kanawha County cleanups.

Both programs are housed in a building near Capitol Market. There’s a large amount of overlap between the two. Both offer a variety of classes to help clients.

In May, the County Commission used opioid settlement fundsÌýto buy new materials for the classes for the first time since 2005.

Jordyn Young is a counselor who teaches all the classes at the Day Report Center. Classes range from anger management to financial literacy to parenting skills.

She thinks the program works because it gives people accountability.

“It holds them to a standard,� she said. “ They have a schedule, they have a routine, something they're not used to, and they also have a support system.�

Cost savings

Along with the benefit the programs provide to the participants, they also potentially save Kanawha County money on the costs associated with the South Central Regional Jail.

According to Kim Fleck, the county's finance manager, the jail bill for the fiscal yearÌýfrom July 1, 2024-June 30Ìýwas just over $4 million.

Day report costs the county $421,319. Drug court, which also is administered with West Virginia Supreme Court employees, costs the county $109,499. According to statistics from the Supreme Court, the average annual cost per drug court participant was $5,682, as of June 30, compared to $26,670 in a regional jail or $35,452 in a state correctional facility.

'Justice and mercy'

Judge Bailey called drug court “the most rewarding work I do.� She said the drug court’s success rate is in the 80-85% range.

According to the Supreme Court, the overall recidivism rate for adult drug courts in West Virginia was about 16%, as of June 30. In Kanawha County, the recidivism is about 20%.

“Punishment isn’t always the solution,� Bailey said. “So we have to temper justice and mercy."

Deb Rusnak, Kanawha County's prosecuting attorney, said the programs are successful, if the right candidates are put in them. Since January, day report specifically has improved greatly, Rusnak said, and her office has started implementing that program more.

Adam Petry, first assistant prosecutor in Kanawha County, said it's difficult to determine who really needs drug court.

"We have to determine who is committing crime to fuel a drug addiction, and then who is just a criminal who has a recreational drug habit," he said.

'Step by step'

Not everyone will find success in drug court or day report.

“If I could have wished people clean," Swayne said,Ìý"I would have time and time again. But you can't. They have to want it.â€�

Successful graduate Tia Morton said willingness is the biggest indicator of success.

Morton chose drug court over prison after being charged with possession of a stolen vehicle in 2013. She had been in "active addiction" for over seven years and had lost custody of her children.

“I was a hard case. I don’t know that I would’ve turned myself [around],� she said. “Most people nowadays will go to a rehab. I don’t know that I would ever have done that."

She joined the drug court program in April 2014, when Bailey gave her a chance.

“She said ‘One mess-up ... you’re going to prison. You’re too old to act this way,’� said Morton, who was 33 at the time. “I took her word for it, too.�

The drug court staff “weaned� Morton back into life, she said, with community service, employment, getting custody of her children back and supporting her having a baby while she was in the program.

“Everything I do today would’ve overwhelmed me in early sobriety to the point that could have caused a relapse," she said, "but they took it step by step.�