CLEVELAND COUNTY MISDEMEANOR RECOVERY COURT

Cleveland County Misdemeanor Recovery Court (CCMRC) is one of the first of its kind in the state of Oklahoma. CCMRC is designed to provide for participants with misdemeanor drug charges the same type of accountability, treatment services and opportunity to clear their legal record available to felony drug court participants.  

A need for this arose after the people of Oklahoma voted to change the law so that non-violent drug charges are now classified as misdemeanors instead of felonies. This was a positive step for a state in recognizing addiction as a disease and reducing the extremely high numbers of people the state puts in prison unnecessarily. However, it left a gap for people in the justice system getting the treatment services needed without the structure and support drug courts offer.  

The Virtue Center is honored to serve as a treatment provider for this program, and we are excited about our first CCMRC graduate in the county.

  “Maggie” is a young adult and came to us for treatment after entering into the diversion program on July 29th, 2019. She had several misdemeanor drug-related charges. Maggie was an IV user in her addiction and dependent on more than one substance. She came to treatment with little to no familial or social support. She was ambivalent about treatment and missed some therapy appointments as she adjusted to the start of her program. 

 Through treatment, Maggie developed time management skills and began making all therapy appointments as well as attending all work shifts and 12-step meetings. She took full advantage of Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and found a sponsor with whom she devoted time weekly to work on her recovery. Maggie attended many meetings in the community and even began giving 12-step presentations at inpatient rehab facilities. Her hard work and dedication were noticed later by employers who promoted her. She lived in an Oxford House, a sober living program, where was asked to move into a house leadership role. 

 While in treatment, Maggie dealt with the devastating generational cycles of addiction and identified a strong desire to break the cycle. She is excited to become a mother and offer her child the strength of recovery and the motivation to make change. She graduated on 01/13/2020, 168 days after starting the program.  At the time of graduation, Maggie was chairing NA meetings and talking about Peer Recovery Support Specialist as a possible career field that she would like to pursue. We are so very proud of her.