MADISON, Wis. — The Dane County Sheriff Department is marking an important milestone.
It’s been a year since Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett introduced the Medication Assistance Treatment (MAT) program to the Dane County Jail.
With the help of doctors from Wellpath, Dane County Jail inmates struggling with addiction are able to receive doses of Subutex (an opioid medication) to better aid them in their recovery.
Daniel Burress is one inmate at the Dane County Jail that’s involved with the MAT program.
“I left a domestic abuse relationship, and I kept having these horrible headaches and I went to the hospital and ended up with a provider who just handed out pills,” said Burress.
When Burress was first prescribed opioids by her doctor, she said she was in such horrible pain that she didn’t think to ask about the negative side effects the pills could have on her body.
“Then all of the sudden I would run out of my prescription, he was on vacation, and I realized that I couldn’t live life without this,” said Burress. “I thought I had this horrible flu, but this flu did not go away.”
When people recovering from addiction stop using drugs, they can experience various physical and emotional symptoms, such as sleeplessness, anxiety and depression.
These were all things that Burress said she was struggling with as she began her road to recovery. At some points, she said she felt like she wouldn’t make it.
“I remember I was in Minneapolis on 494 bridge wondering, is it better to jump off this bridge than to go through this? I had to question that, I really did,” said Burress. “My life was in shambles, I didn’t know where to go, I couldn’t be the mom I wanted to be, I was a shell of a person that I once was.”
That was until Burress found a doctor that could help her detox using the medication Suboxone.
She is still going through that recovery process as she serves time in the Dane County Jail. She said thanks to their MAT program, she feels confident she won’t relapse.
“The Dane County Jail is absolutely incredible, and I am saying that because I had to spend time in another jail,” said Burress. “I was impressed by Beth, the detox nurse here. Incredible, life changing. They don’t make you feel judged, they make you feel like you are a person, and you are worth the care.”
Dr. Giselle Argento-Berrio is a Wellpath nurse that works with jail residents. She said she wishes the MAT program could be offered to more jail residents.
“If we wanted to actually start someone new or offer that, we would have hundreds of people wanting to start it every day which is great, you are in jail, you want to get clean, that’s awesome,” said Argento-Berrio. “But we just don’t have the manpower for it.”
In a press release, the Dane County Sheriff Department expressed that they would like to expand the program in any way they can.
“A large number of people entering our jail system are suffering from various forms of addiction. The ability to offer this medication program and help maintain someone’s sobriety is a huge step in reducing recidivism and improving public safety,” said Barrett.
Burress said she hopes that MAT does reach more people because it helped to save her life and she believes it will help others on their road to recovery as well.
As it stands, the jail only can offer MAT services to people that were involved with the program prior to becoming incarcerated.
“People are mandatorily detoxing while they are here. Whatever they are using in the street, they are going to detox here and we are very good at managing people’s detox,” said Argento-Berrio.