Oak Ridge Today

Model residential drug recovery court showing success, attorney says

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Brad MacLean and Bob Cantrell

Brad McLean, left, program director of the Morgan County Residential Recovery Court, welcomes the commitment of Rev. Bob Cantrell and Presbyterians to help residents “reconnect with the community.” (Submitted photo)

 

By Carolyn Krause

The United States has a broken criminal justice system and a huge drug addiction epidemic, and the country leads the world in the number of people who are in prisons and jails. More than half of released prisoners re-offend and return to prison within three years.

Brad MacLean, an award-winning Nashville attorney and opponent of the death penalty who lives in Clinton, decided more than two years ago to help combat these major issues. He created and is supervising the nation’s first statewide residential drug recovery court, a pilot program and potential model for other states. On August 1, 2013, the Morgan County Residential Recovery Court opened at the Morgan County Correctional Complex, a state prison for men.

MacLean, who had volunteered in Judge Seth Norman’s residential drug court for Davidson County inmates, is program director at the Morgan County residential recovery court for nonviolent, drug-addicted felons across the state. [Read more…]

Free Mental Health workshop at Grace Lutheran on Saturday

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“Art Therapy and Mental Health” is an interactive and hands-on workshop that will be hosted by the Grace Lutheran Church Mental Health Ministry on Saturday, April 18, at 10:30 a.m.  The church is located at 131 West Gettysburg Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The workshop is free and open to the public.

The program will be presented by community counselors Emma C. Burgin and Amanda DeDiego, both of whom are doctoral students in counselor education at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Myra Mansfield running for County Commission in District 8

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Myra Mansfield

Myra Mansfield

Myra Mansfield has announced she is running to serve as an Anderson County Commissioner for District 8 in Oak Ridge. The district includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts.

Mansfield is a native Oak Ridger who grew up in the district where she is asking to serve, a press release said. She attended Woodland Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, and is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School. After high school, she received an associate degree in accounting and a bachelor degree in business management. Later in life, she returned to school to receive her master’s degree while studying counseling.

The release said Mansfield has invested her adult life in business and nonprofit leadership, government and community service, parenting, writing, and public speaking. As a hobby, she has been involved in numerous multimedia projects. She loves history and historical research. Over the years, she found herself being offered a series of opportunities to use her leadership skills to bring positive transition to organizational structure, the release said. [Read more…]