Prison or TLC?

Yesterday I ran into a TLC graduate, a man who’d once held a hotel room full of people at gunpoint, who was still sober after eight years. It was especially gratifying to see this man, who’d once faced multiple years in prison, still clean and sober. And he was no longer on probation or parole.

I was pleased this man was doing well was because we’d worked hard to help his brother keep him out of prison. He avoided prison because it was discovered, during a pretrial examination, that he’d fallen on his head during a drunken binge and suffered brain damage. Because of the seriousness of the charges, though, it was a long battle to keep him from being locked up for several years.

My staff and I periodically submitted reports to a court officer monitoring the client's progress. In addition, his brother hired a psychiatrist to evaluate him and submit reports to the court. Even though the court acknowledged the client’s brain damage, the seriousness of the charges nearly forced them to give him some type of imprisonment – even if it were in a medical facility.

Ultimately though, the court placed him on several years’ probation and let him remain at TLC. After some four years they discharged him from probation. For a few more years he lived in our sober housing, then found an apartment near our corporate offices.

It is always good to be part of a success story. And, in this case, it really felt good because this man stayed out of prison and is still sober.