Meet Your Neighbor: START helps families with substance abuse issues

OAK HARBOR — When a public children services agency (PCSA) case involves parental addiction issues, the obstacles can seem insurmountable. Thanks to the Ohio START program, those families have access to a team of professionals who support their recovery, help them navigate the court system, and work to keep the children in the home.

START stands for Sobriety, Treatment and Reducing Trauma. Ohio START was implemented in Ottawa County in 2019 through a collaboration between Ottawa County Department of Jobs and Family Services (OCDJFS) and Sandusky Artisans Recovery Community Center (SARCC). It is an evidence-informed intervention program which helps PCSAs create a team of caseworkers, behavioral health providers and family peer mentors who build a support grid for START families.

Peer mentor once dealt with struggles other families face now

At the core of the Ottawa County team is Monique Mercer, the program’s family peer mentor, who once dealt with the same struggles those families face. When her oldest child was 3 years old, both of her children were taken from her because of her drug addiction. Addiction and the loss of her children were added to other traumas she had endured. Her mother died of cancer when Mercer was 21, and in the wake of that loss, she joined a gang. In that environment, she witnessed the horrors of violence, drug abuse, and human trafficking.

Today, Mercer is four years clean, married, reconciled with her children, and using her life experiences to help families in the START program.

The program focuses on families who have an open children services case where substance abuse is a primary factor. The core goals of the program are to quickly connect parents to recovery services and identify and rectify obstacles to their recovery and family unification.

“This is a volunteer program, but the goal is to expediate things, if there is a willingness in the family or individual,” said SARCC Assistant Director Christopher Ruff.

When possible, the START team strives to keep the families united.

“It’s about reducing trauma. We try to keep the kids in the home when they are not in any harm, or get kids back in the home as soon as possible,” Mercer said. “They’ve learned that taking children from the home causes more trauma.”

Mercer understands that on a personal level and uses her experience with PCSAs to help START families navigate the children services process. Mercer is based in the OCDJFS office.

Mercer works as a buffer between clients, children services

“I’m a buffer between the client and children services. Children services may not understand why a client is doing something, and a client may not understand why children services is doing something,” Mercer said. “And while I’m in the building, I’m helping break down the stigma of addiction. People see we are normal people who made mistakes, but there’s always hope.”

Working to help the client along with Mercer at OCDJFS are Director Stephanie Kowal, Case Worker Sarah DeBruyne and Supervisor Jennifer Bomyea. When an addiction-related case comes before them, they assess the client to see if they are a good fit for the START program. If they are, the team immediately works to connect the family with recovery resources.

“One of the major things about the program is it speeds up the process,” Kowal said. “They are supposed to see a treatment provider in 24 hours or no more than four days. In a regular case, that can take up to 30 days.”

The team immediately works to identify obstacles to recovery and family success, which may include lack of employment, transportation or the tools needed to deal with the stresses of life. A support team comprised of professionals from several organizations continues to meet weekly to reassess the client’s success and continued obstacles.

“We work to break down barriers throughout the case,” Kowal said.

The START program has been highly successful in Ottawa County, and Sandusky County is working to implement the program.  

“We had three graduations recently,” DeBruyne said. “We had one person who graduated about two years ago that is working full-time and has her kids back full-time. She is thriving.”

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.