Dearborn County JCAP recognizes those who overcome jail, addiction

(LAWRENCEBURG, Ind.) – More than 60 people who have successfully overcome incarceration and addiction were recognized in Lawrenceburg on Thursday night. 

The Dearborn County Jail Chemical Addiction Program (JCAP) hosted their annual Alumni Superstars banquet to celebrate those who are benefitting from the program. 

Dearborn County JCAP is a program for inmates in the county jail to overcome addictions. It was implemented by Judge Sally McLaughlin in 2007 and has been recognized across the state for its effectiveness. 

It uses a treatment program uses a “Strategies for Self-Improvement and Change (SSC)” model and the inmates also have access to self-help groups, psycho-educational groups, life skills groups, and a job readiness program.

On Thursday, several officials spoke at the banquet including Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Carl Pieczonka and Dearborn County Circuit Court Judge Aaron Negangard. 

Judge Negangard emphasized that events like last night are not graduations, but rather an opportunity to recognize how far the participants have come. 

“Graduation is the moment someone finishes a program. What we’re doing tonight is something harder to earn and more important to celebrate: We are honoring people who finished the JCAP program and then kept going,” Judge Negangard said. 

He added, “These are alumni who, months and years later, are still here - still sober, still working, still raising their kids, still showing up for this community. That’s not a certificate. That’s a life rebuilt, tested by time, and still standing."

Chief Deputy Pieczonka has spent 21 years in local law enforcement and has witnessed both the devastation of addiction as well as the ability to overcome. 

“The people gathered here tonight are living examples that change is possible, hope is real, and no person’s story has to end at their lowest moment,” Pieczonka said. 

Recognizing 2 Superstars 

Tisha Linzy serves as JCAP’s Director of Clinical Services and works directly with the individuals involved in the program. 

She understands the difficulties associated with breaking the cycle of addiction and describes each JCAP participant as resilient. 

“I tell them all the time that they are not their trauma. They are not their addiction and they’re not their worst moments in life. I think it is so important for the community to rally around them, as Judge Negangard said, this isn’t a graduation, it's an ongoing process,” Linzy said. 

During the banquet, two local women were recognized for their previous JCAP participation as well as their ongoing commitment to sober living.

Those women are Ashley Draffen and Tiffanie Grossman. They have both overcome addiction and are now living productive, successful lives. 

The ceremony also included the Angel Award which is given to a community member who is not directly affiliated with the program, but supports it through their own endeavors. 

That award was given to Denise Freitag-Burdette who has promoted the program both through her career as a newspaper journalist as well as her current Communications Manager role at the Lawrenceburg library. 

(Pictured above from Left to Right: Judge Negangard, Tisha Linzy, Ashley Draffen, Tiffanie Grossman and Chief Deputy Pieczonka)