Countermeasures Season 1 Episode 4 Podcast Transcript: Caring for Children of the Opioid Epidemic
Kobe [00:00:01] So as a kid going to camp, I’m thinking I’m the only one that deals with my problems. Nobody’s ever going to understand me. It made me feel at home because not only do I have people that have gone through what I’ve gone through, they’re now a family to me. So I can look at them and go to them for help.
Narrator [00:00:17] This is Countermeasures brought to you by Emergent. Join us as we explore the shifting complex world of the opioid crisis. In each episode, we’ll hear from makers of positive change as they recount personal narratives of loss and perseverance and offer a way forward to a better future. The opioid epidemic has touched the lives of people from all walks of life, including children. Children whose parents or family members are struggling with opioid dependency often feel alone, isolated and unsure where to turn for support. In this episode, we explore how to support youth who are impacted by the opioid epidemic and the positive impacts of these programs.
Brian Maus [00:01:08] So I’ve been working with kids, with families, with couples for 35 years now.
Narrator [00:01:16] Brian Maus is the director of Addiction Prevention and Mentoring Programs at Eluna. Eluna provides the funding and resources for their partners to run Camp Mariposa, a weekend camp for youth impacted by substance use disorder. They partner with local community organizations to run 120 camps across the United States.
Brian Maus [00:01:35] Like I said, Camp Mariposa is a year-round addiction prevention and mentoring program specifically designed for youth and teens who have a close family member who struggles with a substance use disorder. So our model is a pretty specific model. It’s a Friday to Sunday weekend camp program. We offer the programs every other month throughout the year, so six times a year. We offer evidence-based prevention programing, other support kinds of activities, along with fun, outdoor camp-based programing. So, the camp piece is really one of the key elements to the success of the program. We do ask for a one-year commitment from the youth who participate as well as the trained adult mentors. So that core programing has always been 9- to 12-year-olds, that that from the beginning has been kind of the bread and butter of the program. Organically over the last six, seven years, we’ve really begun to develop some teen specific programing. So we we started building in first peer mentoring, a junior counselor kind of program. So for teens who who had the interest had this skill set, you know, they could continue to participate in the program all the way up until they turned 18. They participated as a peer mentor, a junior counselor. I would say over the last five years now, we really have developed to very specific teen programing. So most often that looks similar kind of weekend based programing for teens. You know, we tried different things, but the teenagers really love to come back to camp. And that, you know, is their number one request. So we have we have the 9 to 12 year program. We add the teen programing. And then the other thing we added about seven years ago now, that again, I think is contributed to the recent success of the program is activities in between the camp weekends. So those are open to the kids. They’re open to their families as well as as the mentors. And those really are fun social programs.
Narrator [00:04:07] Camp Mariposa makes a huge impact on the lives of the youth who attend. Like Kaia and Kobe. Now adults who both attended Camp Mariposa as children in Sarasota, Florida. Through a Eluna’s partner, Jewish Family and Child Services of the Suncoast.
Kaia [00:04:22] I’m Kaia and I got involved with Camp Mariposa when I was nine years old. My fourth grade teacher heard a little bit about my situation, living with my mom as an addict and was somehow connected to JFCS. Then she handed me the flier and I went to my first camp and I’m super anxious and it turned out to be a lovely experience. I did want to go, but I was super anxious about going. I’d never stayed away from home. I didn’t know anybody I was going with. And then once I was there, I realized how much of a loving environment it was and how everybody was there to help me and nobody was there to put me down.
Kobe [00:05:04] So my name is Kobe Hills and I got involved in Camp Mariposa when I was in the third grade. During the third grade, I had a lot of anger issues, not being able to control my emotions. And there was a counselor at my school named Miss Missy, and Miss Missy actually worked with JFCS, so she ended up introducing me to them. And when I first started JFCS, they’ve only had around, I think maybe three or four camps. So I started relatively in the beginning. And then ever since then, it was a every other month basis. So every time we had camp I attended and at 14, that’s when you graduate. Because in the beginning of camp we never had a teen program like we do now. So I graduated at 14 and luckily for me, the camp grounds that we shared, I actually got hired and actually got hired for a job there. And it changed my own perspectives on life in a sense of when I worked there, I didn’t know what it was, and it ended up being a camp for kids and teens with disabilities and chronic illnesses. So I worked there from 14 to 18, came back to camp after we had our team program, and I’ve been there ever since. So about two years now.
Narrator [00:06:12] For both Kobe and Kaia. Going to camp gave them a place where they were free of judgment and able to just be kids. At the time they attended, there was no teen program, but both have now returned and are now mentors at the camp. Today, Camp Mariposa also includes programing for teens.
Kaia [00:06:31] After I aged out of camp when I was 14 because I wasn’t a teen camp, I struggled with substance abuse problems myself, so I really lost that support group. And then after my mom died when I was 18, I cleaned up my act, started to get my life together. And Miss Jeanette, who was the program director at the time, reached out to me and said, “Hey, I think you would be an amazing mentor”. So that kind of got me back into at first I wasn’t so sure. I was nervous. I’d have a lot of confidence in myself. But then once I attended my first camp as a mentor, I was like and super easy to connect with the kids. And it was like riding a bike. I was right back into the routine and able to connect and and help. Coming a mentor was important for me because I felt like I had an advantage almost when it came to helping kids, seeing their full potential. I was in your shoes. I’ve been there. I felt hopeless. Like this lifestyle that I’m living at home will never end. I feel like I could be an amazing role model to show these kids that one day you’re going to be an adult. You’re going to be able to create your own life, figure out who you are outside of this environment, and just do anything that you put your mind to.
Kobe [00:07:49] I believe everything comes full circle in life. So it’s I didn’t feel like I had to give back the camp. I didn’t feel like it was a necessity. I truly wanted to give back to camp because of all that they did for me and how it made me feel and how I can pick up the phone and call somebody whenever I’m feeling down. I want these kids to feel the exact same way. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you don’t deal with adult problems. There’s an example, so, LSU came out to do surveys and I had a conversation with one of them and it really stuck with me. He said, these kids, their feet can’t even touch the ground yet they’re dealing with so much more than adults do in their life. So that really put it into a perspective that just because you’re little, just because you’re you’re small, I believe experience shapes us all. So maybe somebody that’s 50 has not gone to what, and maybe nine, ten, eleven year old us has gone through.
Narrator [00:08:41] Many children who enter the program have adverse childhood experiences or ACEs, which puts them at higher risk for negative health outcomes, including drug use.
Brian Maus [00:08:52] The kind of the typical kid who or youth who participates in the program has experienced a significant number of adverse childhood experiences. So the ACEs is the short acronym for that. The ACEs study really started in the mid-nineties. It looked at current health issues for for adults. It was in the San Diego area. That was anonymous surveys and they really found and it has over the last 30 years continued to be proven that there is a connection between some people might call it trauma adverse experiences during childhood. You know, and that continues to affect folks all throughout their life. You know that the things that the ACEs questionnaire asked about is things like parental loss. So that could be incarceration. It could be death. They ask about family, mental health issues, poverty, income insecurity, domestic violence, substance use disorders. All those things go into the the ACEs, there’s a large number of people who have at least one of the ACEs. But once you start getting above like four or so, then you can really start to see the long term impact. So I would say on average, the youth who participate in Camp Mariposa come in with an ACEs score of somewhere around four or five. You know, they come into the program having had these experiences. And so what the key for us really is to do is to flip that and really build positive youth experiences, positive childhood experiences, build protective factors to over time, lessen the impact of these experiences. So just to kind of give you a sense in general of the kids when they come in. About 90 percent have one or both parents who struggles with a substance use disorder. So overwhelmingly, it’s kids whose parents struggle. Eighty four percent have very low incomes in their family and they qualify for free school lunches. One of the stats that that always surprises me, over 80 percent to 81 percent have experienced some kind of loss during childhood. So that really goes back to the ACEs question around, you know, it could be due to incarceration. It could be due to death or it could be that that a parent is no longer involved in a child’s life. And about 80 percent, just under 80 percent have a family history of mental health issues. So so that gives you kind of a sense of the kids who come to the program. You know, I think one of the pieces that we look at is building relationships, building community over time in the program. So it’s definitely not a one and done. We do ask for that that years commitment. The reality is that a significant number of the kids as well as the mentors make multi-year commitments to the program. So we do take that long term approach.
Narrator [00:12:22] Dr. Claudia Black, one of the founders of Camp Mariposa and a pioneer in understanding the family dynamics of families impacted by substance use disorders, found that in many of these families, the rules are don’t talk, don’t trust, don’t feel. Being surrounded by children with similar experiences and fostering a safe and fun environment, lets kids be kids and breaks down these barriers.
Kaia [00:12:46] Being around kids who are in similar situations, if growing up was so important because I didn’t realize how many other kids were going through the exact same thing, and it helped me learn how to build relationships with people who were going through something similar and realize that I’m not alone. And there’s people who understand my situation and can help me.
Kobe [00:13:08] It made me realize that everyone, not everyone, is different. You know, you can look at people and not know their stories and until you’re in that on more vulnerable state because we all spent a couple of days together and as a kid you say all my troubles I’m the only one that goes through them. But when you meet every, when you meet more people, especially your age as a kid and you don’t know anything about life yet, all you know is just like bad experiences and you don’t know that that’s going to be trauma leading up to how you’re going to how you’re going to experience the world, especially when you’re older. So as a kid going to camp, I’m thinking I’m the only one that deals with my problems. Nobody’s ever going to understand me. And it made me feel at home because not only do I have people that have gone through what I’ve gone through, they’re now a family to me. So I can look at them and go to them for help.
Narrator [00:13:56] At Camp Mariposa, prevention and learning life skills are a big part of the curriculum to help break the cycle of substance use.
Kaia [00:14:05] Some skills I’ve learned from camp, I mean, there are so many. Just to name a few. I would say learning how to process my emotions in a healthy way was top of the list for me. I had so much anger and I was I was mad at everybody and everything, but learning how to channel that into for me, it was more sports at camp. Being physically active was a huge outlet for me. Also communicating with people effectively my emotions, using our statements and things like that was big at home when I moved in with my dad. Learning how to tell him, Hey, I’m frustrated and here’s why and here’s what’s going on. Mom helped us repair our relationship moving forward.
Kobe [00:14:50] We have a thing called the Seven C’s and I’ll list a few. So one of them is I can’t control it. I didn’t cause it and I can celebrate myself. So just knowing that I am not the reason why my family did this. I can control the way I act. I can control how I treat people and I can celebrate myself knowing that I’m not going to be in the same situations that has caused me to be the person I am today. There’s so much you can learn from camp. There’s you learn that there’s actually lifelong friendships in life. Like you think going to camp, a lot of people think a summer camp. So I’m only going to spend a couple of months with these people and never speak to them again. I personally have had really good experiences. I traveled up to North Carolina last year to go visit a counselor. So it shows you that it’s not just the camp, it’s not just, Oh, I’m going to come here and get taught for two days and then go home. Whenever I mention camp to people, I don’t tell them it’s a job because they always say, if you if you do what you love, you love what you do. Like I could not be getting paid at camp and I was still put in the same excitement. I was still put in the same being able to care for the kids is as if it was just me getting volunteer hours. So just knowing that it makes an impact on you to shape these kids. Like that’s what we’re doing. We’re essentially making the future because who knows, one of these kids who can become a doctor and save me one day, all because of the way I treated them at camp, but for them to know that they actually had a friend.
Brian Maus [00:16:16] One of the things that we have done in the last couple of years is, is to choose an evidence based prevention curriculum. So we’ve made the decision we want a kind of across the board to have standard prevention programing. So for us, we chose to good for drugs. It worked in our model. It works in the weekend. That’s a great curriculum that addresses specific kinds of things like the effects of alcohol, you know, understanding the safe use of prescriptions and over-the-counter medicine. So one of the things we learned was that kids, especially in the younger side, like if they hear that someone is taking medicine, they sometimes thought that that was just a negative right away. But there, you know, there there’s an emphasis on on understanding the safe use of medication. You know, the other thing I like with too good for drugs is there really is in addition to the drug prevention education, there’s time tested prevention activities like communication skills, finding trusted adults, you know, those kinds of like refusal skills and dealing with peer pressure, managing emotions. These are all things that also play really well. They’re good for delaying first use.
Narrator [00:17:54] This evidence-based approach has been very effective.
Brian Maus [00:17:59] I think the great news is that the program is truly breaking the cycle of addiction. So we have research partners at Louisiana State University and Clemson University, and we’ve developed a questionnaire that gets distributed twice a year at the camp weekends. And so these numbers kind of are are they been consistent over the last five, six years that we’ve been using the measure. So 95 percent of the youth have never been involved in the juvenile justice system. So these are the youth who attend the camp weekends, take the surveys. Ninety five percent have never been involved in the juvenile justice system, and 93 percent have never used a substance to get high. So those are really great numbers that that we’re extremely proud of. You know, and then we collect other other data on, you know, we talked about the goals a few minutes ago of the interpersonal connections. You know, the kids, you know, typically start out feeling pretty alone, isolated, don’t know other kids. And, you know, in the surveys, almost 100 percent, 97 percent report there’s adults they trust. So that’s huge for us, building those trusting adult relationships. And 95 percent of the youth have made friends at Camp Mariposa. So, again, those are coming from where they start. Those are great, great numbers.
Narrator [00:19:42] Center of Camp Mariposa’s mission is creating a sense of community.
Brian Maus [00:19:46] So, you know, the change that happens, breaking that cycle, you know, really comes through that community. So many kids start the program not knowing any other kids living in similar situations. They come two or three times in the first few months and they’ll start to say, you know, I’ve made some really good friends here. And then after about a year, it takes about a year, maybe a little bit more, they’ll say, this is like a second family to me. Sometimes they’ll say, this is like the family I wished I had. And so it’s the the other youth who participate, the other kids in the program, the teens in the program, as well as those trained adult adult mentors. You know, for I think the one of the big things we hear thing going with that sense of community is kids will say, I don’t feel judged here. So it’s one place in their life where they can talk about what’s going on. You know, and one of the other things I love is, is and kids, teenagers will be very clear about this. They’ll say, I wouldn’t be friends with some of the kids in the program outside of here, but they have these deep, intimate, really supportive relationships that that they value. But but on the outside they would never you would never see them together. And I think that’s what’s so great about, you know, building that community and taking the long term perspective and and having, you know, we talked a little bit about the peer mentors, the junior counselors, like having them come back. They’ve been where the nine year old who’s just starting out, they were there when they started the program. Now, you know, they you know, they the younger kids look up to the junior counselors, which is great. And so for the junior counselors, they love to give back. They love to be seen as this positive role model. So that really is important to the success of the program. And I think, too, that the mentors and that sense of community connection that, you know, a lot of the mentors have lived experience either, you know, themselves as a child growing up in a family with significant substance use.
Kaia [00:22:23] Coming a mentor was important for me because I felt like I had an advantage almost when it came to helping kids, seeing their full potential. I was in your shoes. I’ve been there. I felt hopeless. Like this lifestyle that I’m living at, at home will never end. And I feel like I could be an amazing role model to show these kids that one day you’re going to be an adult. You’re going to be able to create your own life, figure out who you are outside of this environment, and just do anything that you put your mind to.
Narrator [00:22:56] Programs like Eluna’s Camp Mariposa help children adversely affected by the opioid epidemic. But there’s still work to be done. Children need support year round from all areas of the community. The importance and effectiveness of forming a community and access to trusted adults and safe spaces have been demonstrated through programs like Camp Mariposa. Thank you to Kobe and Kaia for sharing their stories. To learn more about Eluna, Camp Mariposa and its partners, please visit the links in the episode description. Thank you for listening to this episode of Countermeasures. To learn more about what Emergent is doing to address public health threats like the opioid crisis, visit emergentbiosolutions.com. If this episode resonated with you, consider rating and reviewing Countermeasures on your preferred podcast platform.