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Program helps protect moms, babies from opioid epidemic

Mitchell News-Journal - 11/1/2017

Cassie Tipton York, a native of Bakersville, gave an impassioned public presentation recently at Mitchell High School in honor of Overdose Awareness Day.

York told Avery, Mitchell and Yancey county officials and residents she lost almost everything to opioid and methamphetamine addiction including her children, her home and even her freedom when she was arrested and sent to jail.

"Addiction doesn't make any sense," York said. "Nobody plans addiction. But you definitely need a plan, and a lot of support, to recover from it."

York went to jail in 2011. She said it was her wakeup call, and a lot has changed since then.

She has been in sustained recovery for the past six years and now works as a peer support specialist for Toe River Advocates for Community Education and Support, or TRACES, a community health initiative sponsored by the Mountain Area Health Education Center, or MAHEC, and funded by a two-year grant from The Duke Endowment.

TRACES aims to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and babies born going through opioid withdrawal, a condition known as neonatal abstinence syndrome.

"Too many of our mothers and babies are struggling as the result of untreated substance use disorders," said Jeff Heck, MD, MAHEC president and CEO. "And too many of our rural communities are struggling to access healthcare services. MAHEC is committed to changing that."

TRACES sponsors free resilience-focused care training for Mitchell and Yancey county officials, justice departments, school systems, and social and healthcare service providers. This training is conducted by Resources for Resilience, a nonprofit organization formerly known as the WNC Resiliency Collaborative, which offers a set of measurably transformative, trauma-informed, practical strategies to help providers care for people who have experienced trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Mitchell County School District and Head Start Programs in Mitchell and Yancey counties have already participated in the 90-minute training.

Trauma often underlies addiction.

"Many people who are dependent on illegal drugs or alcohol were victims of neglect or abuse," said Kelly Rothe, DO, a family physician practicing in Burnsville who performed hundreds of sexual and physical abuse exams for children in Yancey and Mitchell counties for more than 10 years. "Those are the stories that come out almost every time. As children, they didn't have access to the trauma-focused support they needed to cope in healthier ways as teens and adults."

As a TRACES peer support specialist, York offers individual support to women at risk of substance use disorders and facilitates access to long-acting reversible contraception, or LARC, including IUDs and reproductive implants.

"I'm excited to be able to show women in our community they are not alone," York said. "I've been there. I wasn't sure I'd ever break free from addiction. But people can change. I'm proof of that."

York is now an active member of her church community, a recovery advocate and a recent college graduate with plans to get her master's degree in a human services field.

Her help couldn't come soon enough.

Mitchell and Yancey counties have ranked among the highest in the state for fatal overdoses. In 2016, Mitchell County had the fifth-highest rate of opioid prescriptions per patient in the state with three other neighboring WNC counties also in the top 10, according to Jeff Spargo, program coordinator for the Mitchell-Yancey Substance Abuse Task Force.

And the number of drug-exposed infants and children?

"We wrote the TRACES grant because hospital staff throughout our region are seeing babies going through opioid withdrawal after birth, and child protective services staff are seeing babies and children exposed to opioids at home," said Sara Thach, the grant's co-author and administrative director of MAHEC's Rural Health Initiative. "We wanted to design a program that would help protect Mitchell and Yancey families from this problem that many are experiencing throughout Western North Carolina."

As part of this effort, York's goal is helping women find recovery before they find themselves facing an unintended pregnancy, incarcerated or worse.

A peer support specialist like York is someone in long-term recovery that uses his or her own life experience and training to help others seeking recovery from addiction.

York's peer support training was provided by Vaya Health, which has certified more than 350 individuals since 2015. This 40-hour training includes education about substance use disorders, the effects of trauma, recovery support skills and how to overcome stigma.

"We're excited to partner with MAHEC to strengthen peer support services in a region hit hard by the opioid drug epidemic," said Brian Ingraham, Vaya CEO. "Studies show individuals who receive peer support have lower healthcare costs, achieve greater rates of sustained recovery and experience better outcomes on a variety of health issues. Maybe the most important benefit of all is that participants see first-hand that recovery is truly possible."

It has been said recovery happens one step at a time, and residents and organizations can take the next step by calling or sending an email to TRACES Program Manager Idania Garcia to learn more about the program's free peer support services and recovery-focused care training.

"We want people to know they can recover from trauma and addiction," Garcia said. "But recovery is more likely when you have adequate support. That's why we're here ? to help our friends and families lead healthier lives."