Alex Haley had been sober for five years when he tried to return to work in rural northwest Ohio. But he was first introduced to drugs when he was just 10 years old, and more than a decade of substance use has taken a toll on his health.
“I have quite a few cardiac symptoms that cause me to maybe have to step away from the job station that a lot of places won't really appreciate,” Haley explained.
He lost his factory job because he couldn't physically handle it. But, because he started working, Social Security figured he no longer had a disability and terminated his benefits.
He had no idea how to fight to get his only source of income back. But Rebecca Steinhauser, an attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, or ABLE, in Defiance, did.
“A lot of times [clients] come in, not just with one legal issue, but two, three, sometimes four issues. And those issues can be real barriers to achieving sobriety or maintaining sobriety,” she said.
Recovery from substance use disorder is a lot more than just getting sober. It often means starting over: the need to find housing, health insurance or a job. But to get that fresh start, some Ohioans need the help of an attorney, like Steinhauser.
The link between legal aid and substance use
Over the course of 18 years, Ohio and its communities are receiving about $2 billion from pharmaceutical companies to compensate for harm caused by opioids.
ABLE is one of at least four Ohio legal aid organizations who received grants from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, the state distributor of that settlement money, in hopes of using the court system to address addiction.
“If you can target and solve the legal issue, then you can improve health,” Steinhauser said.
Addiction is a health issue. But doctors can’t necessarily prescribe the economic stability that many need to maintain sobriety.
In some ways, attorneys can.
They can help clients, like Haley, navigate the complex legal system to apply for SNAP benefits. They can help reinstate clients’ drivers licenses so they can get to work. They can help recovered parents who lost custody of their children take the first steps to regain legal guardianship.
The vast majority of people seeking out legal aid services struggled with substance use issues, according to a 2018 report by the Legal Services Corporation’s opioid task force. In just one year, Steinhauser said the settlement dollars have enabled them to help around 75 people.
“So many people come to us and they're at the end of their ropes and they're ashamed,” she said. “This is a medical issue that needs to be treated like anything else.”
Sealing criminal records
In other parts of the state, legal aid organizations are helping clients put criminal records – picked up in active addiction – firmly in the past.
“A lot of the people that I've helped, they've had records and it's been 10 years, 20 years. It's still coming back to haunt them decades after the fact,” said Josh Baumann, a staff attorney with Community Legal Aid in Youngstown.
His organization is using settlement money to expunge or seal misdemeanor offenses, like possession of drug paraphernalia or minor theft. It offers a second chance for people who, in some cases, were given opioids by their own doctors, he said.
“It's kind of that recognition that a lot of people who got involved in the justice system, it wasn't entirely their fault,” Baumann said. “There were other societal reasons that dragged them down. And this is one way that society is attempting to sort of lift them back up.”
With their criminal records behind them, Baumann said people in recovery have more agency: they may have better luck finding employment or finally be eligible for an affordable apartment in a neighborhood they like.
“They've already tried to do everything they can to put the past behind them and to be productive… And by getting these things sealed or expunged or taken care of, it really does help them kind of get back on their feet,” he said.
An advocate in their corner
Through ABLE’s program in Defiance, Alex Haley was given the tools he needed to maintain his housing – and consequently his sobriety.
Steinhauser, his attorney, successfully filed a good cause appeal to get his social security benefits back. But, even after that appeal was granted, Haley didn’t receive his benefits right away.
“I went eight, nine months not being able to pay a dime towards anything whatsoever: credit card debt, bills, medical bills, childcare,” he said.
Steinhauser threatened more legal action to get the state to follow through. It worked.
Haley was relieved to be able to pay rent again, and for the first time, he felt like he had someone in his corner.
“A lot of people that are in recovery, speaking for myself, I felt very alone throughout that whole process. And when you feel alone, it kind of keeps you in that repeated cycle,” he said.
Sometimes, he said, it helps to have an advocate to find a path out.
