Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition
April 8, 2015
Members/Guest Present: Cinda Sagnes, Stacey Griffin, Rune Wright, Kristy Oran, Charlene Hipsher, Patti
Wells, Kim Nelson, Russell Johnson, David Bell, Mollie Swallows, Kris Hontz, Jill Murphy, Anthony Rogers,
Cathy Day, Maretta McNichol, Lori Rodgers, David Rodgers.
Alcohol Awareness Month: The Harriman Police Department recently completed an alcohol compliance
check with 87% of businesses in compliance. This is an increase in compliance from April 2014 (73.9%).
The Alcohol Beverage Commission has another compliance check scheduled in the next couple of weeks
and will have the statistics at the next meeting. In support of Alcohol Awareness Month, RCADC is giving
presentations on the dangers of underage drinking at the Boys and Girls Club and with the P3 clubs. The
P3 Clubs are also participating in the CAN Underage Drinking campaign again this year.
CADCA Academy: Jill Murphy gave an update on the first week of the National Coalition Academy last
week in New York. The Academy is a comprehensive training program developed by CADCA’s National
Coalition Institute. Coalitions participating in the Academy learn about creating and maintaining
partnerships, sustainability, cultural competence, assessment, prevention planning and implementation
and evaluation. The Academy combines three weeks of classroom training plus distance learning and
access to a web-based workstation. Jill replicated an activity from the Academy to demonstrate
strategic planning. Several balloons were passed out to the group and they were asked to keep them
from hitting the ground or the table. Next, several of the balloons are eliminated to illustrate the
difficulty of implementing too many activities at once. We hope to incorporate more strategic planning
during the monthly coalition meetings.
Faith-Based Initiative: Cinda Sagnes and Lori Rodgers explained the new faith-based initiative of the
State. The goal is to create an environment that welcomes the participation of faith-based and
community-based organizations as essential partners in substance abuse prevention and recovery. The
idea is to better utilize the faith-based sector in providing human services throughout the community.
WestCare is under the understanding that the faith-based initiative is going to be a pilot program in
Roane County through RCADC. There is an application that will have to be filled out by those in the
community who are wanting services or funding. This initiative is a way to get needed programs
implemented in Roane County.
New Business: PRIDE surveys will be administered in the schools in May. The surveys will be distributed
to all 7th, 9th and 11th students.
A Beer Board Lunch & Learn has been scheduled on May 6th from 12-1:30 pm at the District Attorney’s
office, Derrick Dalton from ABC will be the guest speaker. All Beer Board members will be invited as well
as officials from the DA’s Office and local law enforcement agencies.
David Rodgers would like for RCADC to give a presentation at Celebrate Recovery for Alcohol Awareness
Month. He thinks they would benefit from a presentation on how alcohol not only affects the drinker
but how it also affects their children.
Lt. Maretta McNichol talked about the classes in the jail. Six women will be graduating soon. Also,
eighteen men will be finishing up their classes as well. Work release for the inmates is going great, she
reports an increase in the number of businesses that have called with work opportunities for the
inmates. They have started the Long Acting Reversible Contraception Program with the women inmates.
Five inmates have already voluntarily gone to the Health Department and five more will voluntarily be
going soon. The jail is partnering with the Health Department to offer these services. The health
department does a presentation for them and ends with a video showing a NAS baby. The inmates are
very receptive to learning more about NAS and many are interested in receiving birth control.
Ridgeview’s MIST program is holding group sessions with inmates every Friday and they report that the
responses from the inmates have been positive.
District Attorney General Russell Johnson gave an update on the drug court application. April 16th is the
deadline to submit the application. Charlene has done a lot of work on this and many other
organizations have helped to gather information for WestCare’s grant writing team. Drug Court is on the
agenda for the County Commission meeting on Monday to ask for a resolution authorizing the County
Executive to apply for a Federal Bureau of Justice grant to establish a drug court in Roane County. There
are 65 grants available and we have learned that 3 counties in Tennessee are applying for the
opportunity including Roane County. This is a three year grant for $350,000. There is a 25% required
match that can be in the form of in-kind contributions. The majority of the match will come from the
working hours of Judge Humphrey, Kim Nelson, and Russell Johnson. WestCare will provide treatment
programs for participants. Drug Court is in 2 phases: Phase 1- intensive outpatient will consist of 20-30
people, Phase 2- Less intensive (once they move people into this stage they will move new people into
Phase 1). The program cap will be 30-50 people. The DA’s office has observed other drug courts in the
county. Drug court will be working closely with WestCare facility and the probation office. All drug court
team members must complete a series of webinars prior to attending official training. Training will be
held June 8th – 10th.
The next meeting will be held on May 13th, 2015 at noon at the RCADC office (151 E. Race Street,
Kingston).