By Melanie Deeds
Legal News
The myriad of changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic forced Ryan Zemke to realize at one point recently something had to give.
One thing was certain though. The magistrate and deputy court administrator at 41-B District Court in Clinton Township could not give up his commitment to Families Against Narcotics (FAN), of which he was president.
Zemke actively participates in a variety of other organizations as well, but FAN’s mission and programs mattered too much to him to forego continued support
“I was doing most of the meetings from the hockey rink or baseball field,” said the father of a 10- and 11-year-old, admitting he needed to carve out more time to accommodate his children’s busy schedules. “I decided I would let somebody else take over for a little bit, but I still wanted to stay involved.”
Zemke stepped down from the top post but stayed on as secretary of the Macomb County-based nonprofit organization founded in 2007 by former 41-B District Court Judge Linda Davis and now boasting 20 chapters statewide.
Its mission is educating and assisting communities, helping those seeking recovery, those in recovery, and family members affected by substance use or opioid use addiction.
Programs include Hope Not Handcuffs and the COMEBACK Quick Response Team post-overdose wellness check initiative. FAN also offers community naloxone training, the Stronger Together family and friends support group, along with peer and family recovery coaching as well as sober living scholarships.
Last year was particularly challenging for FAN, according to Zemke, but adjustments have been made in response to the pandemic.
“It’s a lot more difficult to provide services when you are doing social distancing,” he said. “Overdoses are way up, in the state and nationally, too. We’re trying to do as much as we can when we’re needed even more than ever.”
Many activities are still restricted to online connections, Zemke noted, which can be tough on those battling an addition and desperately in need of a support system.
“When your stress levels increase or you lose your job, you’re always at a risk of relapse and now it’s a little more difficult to get to services,” he said.
Zemke is no stranger to working with those in trouble or in need of a helping hand.
The 2008 Cooley Law School graduate began his law career as a defense attorney representing participants in the 41-B District Court drug and sobriety court, the veterans’ treatment court and 40th District Court drug court.
In addition, Zemke is a past president of Helping Ensure Addicts Live (HEAL); current secretary of the Macomb County Bar Association; chair-elect of the State Bar of Michigan Criminal Law Section; and last year served as chair of the SBM Young Lawyers Section.
Zemke has been gratified to witness the way in which courts — and much of society as well — have changed in the way they deal with individuals suffering from addictions.
“Specialty courts have evolved and become more commonplace, and probation departments are getting set up to deal with more of the high-risk, high-need people and give them individualized treatment and address the underlying problem,” he said. “But you obviously run into the issues there where that takes more resources and that’s not readily available.”
Specialty courts “definitely work for the people who go through those programs,” Zemke said. “There’s a much greater chance that they’re coming out employed, much less chance that they ever get arrested again, so you put in the time and the effort and you really do see this pay off.”
Of course, it doesn’t work for everyone, he acknowledged, “but overwhelmingly it’s a really positive life change for people that benefits not only the person, but the community as a whole. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
The stigma around addiction “is so overwhelming, when it’s just really another disease,” Zemke said.
“A friend of mine often says that nobody brings you a casserole when your kid is addicted to drugs, but if your kid has cancer, everyone is bringing meals,” Zemke related. “It’s just a brain disease.”
Zemke is bolstered by the enthusiastic response to FAN programs. Last week, for example, the Troy Police Department signed onto the COMEBACK QRT initiative, which features a three-member unit consisting of a police officer, certified peer recovery coach, and certified family recovery coach.
Within 72 hours of a non-fatal drug overdose, the COMEBACK team visits the individual who overdosed, as well as family members, offering support, information and assistance in obtaining recovery services. Since its inception in February 2020, the program has expanded and now operates out of 15 law enforcement agencies across the state. There have been more than 900 home visits with support offered to nearly 500 families.
Hope Not Handcuffs has helped more than 5,500 people since its launch in February of 2017. Under the program, anyone seeking help to reduce a dependency on prescription medications, heroin, alcohol, or other drugs can go to any participating police agency and ask for help. One of FAN’s trained “Angels” will provide them with resources and help them obtain treatment.
Thus far, more than 100 police agencies have signed on in Michigan as well as 39 departments in New York.
“This is a first step,” Zemke said. “It’s really just a different door to walk in and get the process started.”
Along with everything else, funding for FAN programs took a significant hit during the pandemic, according to Zemke. To that end, FAN planned two fund-raisers this month — a drive-in movie event May 13 at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights and a Women Honoring Women Gala at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club on May 20.
“I know when I was in private practice, it was the most rewarding work I did,” Zemke said. “Oftentimes you see people at their worst moments. A year or two later after they’ve gone through a program, you see them graduate and completely turn their lives around. They get a job, become a better parent, sibling, son or daughter.”
Zemke added: “They do the hard work; we just give them the tools. It’s not anything that we’re doing that’s magic. We’re just kind of guiding them along. To really see someone turn themselves around, that’s more payoff than you can ask for.”
A favorite success story involves a client who was stopped by police with what the young man thought was heroin but was actually pure fentanyl, a highly addictive drug that can cause death when taken in high doses or when combined with other substances, especially alcohol.
“Had he not been stopped, he likely would have overdosed,” Zemke said. “He went through the treatment courts and now he’s on the path to go to law school.
He’s married, has two kids, and is actually a peer coach working with the drug courts. He turned it around and now he’s giving it back and on the path to greatness.”
The way Zemke sees it, there’s no perfect path, “no right or wrong way that will lead anyone back to sobriety, so the more tools we can give people in their toolbelt and the more opportunities they are given to use them, the better it is.”
A peer coach might help one person, but not another, he indicated.
In his work in the courts and with FAN, Zemke has come to realize there’s a better chance at success “when you try to treat the underlying problem.
“They just have to be committed and have the will to overcome everything,” he added. “They usually find their way in the long run.”
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