Operation Helping Hands
By Albert B. Kelly
One of my favorite quotes from President Franklin D. Roosevelt is from May of 1932 when he spoke at Oglethorpe University. FDR said a lot of things that day as it was the height of the Great Depression, but the thing that stood out to me were these words; “It is common sense to take a method and try it: if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
This “try something” approach comes to mind when I think of Operation Helping Hands, a program launched in June of 2019 by State Attorney General’s Office in response to the opioid crisis. The program has been slow in making its way to all corners of the state and it is now getting established here in Bridgeton and the western side of Cumberland County.
That is not a criticism. The program was just rolling out when the world was overwhelmed by a global pandemic so that June of 2019 seems like a lifetime ago. I’m glad it’s here now and I’m glad that we haven’t lost sight of this crisis because on this side of the pandemic, many things seem worse than they were pre-pandemic. We’re still off balance.
If you are not familiar with Operation Helping Hands, it is more or less a diversion program connecting individuals struggling with opioid addiction with trained recovery coaches, medication assisted treatment, and referrals and resources intended to get people on a pathway to recovery. One of the program’s strengths is the fact that there is a degree of flexibility so that counties and towns can figure out what works best on the ground.
Locally, Bridgeton’s EMS Division will be working with the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office to identify those persons struggling with addiction as well as those most vulnerable to a drug overdose to engage with them directly. The hope is that by reaching out and actually giving a damn, some might be ready to commit to some type of treatment, whether as an inpatient or on an outpatient basis.
Between the high costs of inpatient treatment, the lack of insurance, and the scarcity of beds, some who are willing to try and get clean won’t have the chance. In such instances, medication assisted treatment (MAT) such as Buprenorphine and Naloxone may be the only option.
According to the NJ Department of Health, from 2017 to the present, 2,631 people in Cumberland County were saved by Naloxone with 498 of those from my community of Bridgeton and 6 from Shiloh. Having trained recovery coaches locally to follow up is in keeping with the concept of “try something”.
Operation Helping Hands uses “Overdose Data to Action” or “OD2A” as developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the program scaffolding. This approach centers on collecting as much detailed, timely and actionable data as possible on nonfatal as well as fatal overdoses and using that data to figure out the best approaches to prevention. What ideas might be teased out of the data and where it might lead will vary from place to place, yet recovery coaches will have to walk a fine line.
I say that because you never quite know where someone is in terms of confronting themselves. We can be awfully stubborn when it comes to admitting our weaknesses, failures, and vulnerabilities. People can find creative ways to excuse or justify their behaviors- half the battle is actually admitting that one has a substance abuse problem.
Those involved with Operation Helping Hands will no doubt encounter their share of hostility from patients still in denial, but it is worth it to plant the seed of recovery. For those willing to admit and confront their addiction, Operation Helping Hands can provide a starting place toward getting their life back.
The important aspect to this program is that using this data, we reach out rather than leaving it to the person struggling with addiction to reach out. Shame, embarrassment, and fear can be unbelievably powerful feelings preventing people from acknowledging their circumstances.
But approaching people with respect and sincerity while also helping to preserve their dignity, can be equally as powerful and this is often the foundation upon which recovery can start. Last year, 3,081 New Jersey residents died from suspected drug overdoses. As FDR said “take a method and try it: if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”