Pa. can help high school students in recovery

Pennsylvania leads the nation in drug-overdose deaths among young adult men. According to the Trust for America's Health, our state suffered 30.3 deaths per 100,000 young-adult male residents. When all ages and genders are combined, Pennsylvania ranks ninth in the nation.

It is clear we are in the midst of an ever-increasing epidemic where the grief from these tragedies does not end when the family leaves the grave site. It can and oftentimes consumes surviving family members with an unrelenting emptiness and life-time sadness.

There is no easy solution to this epidemic of deaths among our young people. Some 15 years ago, eight young people in a neighborhood I represented died from OxyContin-related overdoses in less than a year.

To fight this needless loss of young lives, I teamed up with local parents and other elected officials to produce a short video entitled Some Good-byes Are Forever, which focused on sibling survivors of two young people whose lives were cut short by drug overdoses. We mailed the video to every house in my district and went on a door-to-door offensive, visiting homes, schools, churches, rec centers — anywhere anyone would listen to us.

I have updated this video and am again distributing it via the Internet and social media in the hope of getting this important message out: Abuse of prescription and illegal drugs can kill.

That 12-month span of young deaths eventually stopped as word got out. But the epidemic of drug abuse continued and grew worse and more deadly. Today, heroin is now readily accessible and a cheaper alternative to prescription drugs. We are losing countless young lives in this epidemic of heroin and prescription-drug abuse — and it must stop.

Last week I stood with a number of recovering young people at Bridge Way School, the first high school in the Philadelphia region designed specifically for students who are in recovery for a substance-abuse addiction.

Bridge Way is a nonprofit alternative to the traditional public high school. It offers a challenging academic program while also nurturing a positive-peer, substance-free environment, with on-site intervention support services, that show students a path to a drug-free life. Bridge Way requires, supports, and honors sobriety.

That's why I joined state Sen. Pat Browne (R., Lehigh) this week to introduce legislation that would establish a four-year pilot program for high school students in recovery from a substance-use disorder.

Currently, 80 percent of students who return to their previous high schools following substance-abuse treatment relapse within 30 days. This pilot recovery program would provide young people with a support system that can help them stay clean and get their lives back on the right track.

Right now, there are 35 recovery high schools in 15 states that are recognized by the Association of Recovery Schools.

Kristen Harper, executive director of the Association of Recovery Schools, has said, "If a teen or their families do not have the means necessary to go to treatment, they often end up in the juvenile justice system. Last year, to serve one teen offender in the system, it cost the Department of Juvenile Justice over $80,000 a year. The average cost per student for a recovery high school was $12,000. We must stand up and step out for our children. Enough is enough. Recovery high schools work."

Under our legislation, the pilot program would serve a limited number of students over the initial four-year period. Funding for participating students would be shared between the state Department of Education and the student's school district.

Students in the pilot program would have to complete all state-level assessments normally required of any student enrolled in a traditional public school. The recovery high schools would be required to report program outcomes to the General Assembly and to the Education and Drug and Alcohol Programs Departments.

Gary Tennis, secretary of the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, has offered support for our legislation saying, "Recovery schools offer a brilliant and proven way to support our cherished young people's journey of recovery."

Only through active participation in treatment can an individual overcome addiction, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. I believe our legislation will provide greater access to much-needed recovery support services for students in recovery.

State Rep. John J. Taylor (R., Phila.) represent the 177th Legislative District. jtaylor@pahousegop.com