Overton County Recovery Court Celebrates First Recovery Rally

Community members gathered in Overton County Tuesday night to celebrate the first-ever Recovery Rally.

Overton County Recovery Court Director Andrea Ayers said the event was to honor and show pride for those currently in or who have graduated from the recovery court program.

“It is an absolute requirement that they have these structures and support systems in place because those are the things they were lacking before,” Ayers said. “So if you don’t have that support and those systems in place, the likelihood of success is not great.”

Ayers said they currently have 14 individuals in the program with some 30 alumni. The event presented those individuals with an opportunity to connect to resources that will help them in their recovery journey.

Ayers said the 17 vendors represented everything from job connection services to addiction services to faith-based support. This included what’s known as the Justice Bus, a mobile law office that brings technology to rural and underserved communities. Ayers said this was the first time the bus was in the Upper Cumberland.

“Many of these folks that are involved in addiction, that are involved in the criminal justice system also typically have some sort of co-occurring civil or legal problem,” Pro-Bono Coordinator Savannah Quintero said. “That may be child custody problems, child support problems, maybe housing issues that they’re going to have to deal with eventually when they look at getting out when they’re finished with their criminal involvement. And being able to help those folks kind of get back where they need to be in terms of their legal problems is I think a big piece of keeping folks on the road to recovery and success.”

General Sessions Court Judge Daryl Colson said recovery court focuses on addiction and is court-ordered mandated treatment. Colson said it is one of the most successful ways of dealing with addiction in the court system.

“The biggest benefit of recovery court is that if there is a violation, there are also immediate sanctions so they don’t wait for months and months and months to have a hearing so things move quickly,” Colson said. “And on the flip side of that, we also have positive reinforcements. For example, we give gift cards if they are sanction-free. So it’s that old positive and negative reinforcement theory. But it works. Time has shown that that works and it works now.”

Ayers said the event welcomed recovery court participants from the local program and surrounding programs, community members, and partners. She said it was a great joining of people and resources.