Families and friends of individuals addicted to drugs can often feel hopeless, but an advocate for Casey’s Law was at the Christian County Justice Center Thursday morning to educate about one option available to obtain involuntary treatment for those who need it.
Casey’s Law was passed in 2004 and is named after Casey Wethington, who died at only 23 years old from a heroin overdose.
It allows a petitioner or group of petitioners to go through a process that can result in the addicted person receiving treatment. In Christian County, that process begins at the county attorney’s office, but Recovery Advocate Joan Arlinghaus says it starts at the circuit court clerk’s office in some Kentucky counties.
The petitioner must commit to paying any costs that comes with treatment, though Arlinghaus emphasized there are low-cost and sometimes no-cost options available. Appointments also must be made for the addicted person for evaluation by a physician and a qualified mental health professional—with the Pennyroyal Center providing that service locally.
Once all of the paperwork and evaluations are complete, that person will appear with an attorney in district court, where the judge will ultimately decide if he or she should undergo involuntary drug addiction treatment.
Arlinghaus told of her own children struggling with addiction and going through treatment. She says there are no hard statistics on how often Casey’s Law is successful when it’s invoked, but she’s seen many success stories.
The Christian Circuit Court Clerk’s Office has a Casey’s Law checklist available for anyone considering process and the Christian County Attorney’s Office advocates on behalf of the petitioner in court.
District Judge Foster Cotthoff urged petitioners to provide as much information as possible on the application, as that is the first contact he has with the case before making a decision.
The website for more information is caseyslaw.org.