DE QUEEN, Ark. -The Sevier County Sheriff's Department's Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program will be the subject of a series airing on Discovery Plus.
"The Program: Prison Detox" was shot during the COVID-19 pandemic and follows the program's participants as they try to turn their lives around.
The treatment program for inmates, RSAT, was established by Sheriff Robert Gentry and Jail Administrator Chris Wolcott in late 2017, and it has garnered attention across the state and beyond.
Through the program, enrollees are offered a significantly reduced sentence, 90 days in jail. Following completion, graduates must remain drug-free with no arrests throughout probation.
"We were contacted by the production crew that they wanted to talk to us about doing a show about it. It's taken about two years to get it all together," Gentry said.
Big City TV is producing the program, and it will air on Discovery Plus, a streaming service that airs programming from Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV and ID channel, along with other networks.
"Now with Discovery Plus, we have an opportunity to shine a light on this exceptional, cutting-edge program in Sevier County, Arkansas, that's tackling drug-related offenses in a truly innovative way," said Wendy Douglas, vice president of production for TLC.
The first three episodes will be available Aug. 25, and then four more episodes will be released once a week. A trailer for the series is being shown on social media pages for networks affiliated with Discovery Plus. The trailer on TLC's Facebook page has been shared more than 500 times and viewed more than 73,000 times.
"Its kind of an awesome feeling to have something you are proud of be recognized like this," said Gentry.
"Here we are in the lower left-hand corner of Arkansas, and they came and talked to the participants in the program. Some of them opened their hearts out and told them things they might have not told anybody else."
The series will follow the 14th class of the program, along with Gentry, Wolcott and drug counselor Lynette Gilmore.
Gentry admits he is much more comfortable on camera now than he used to be.
"It was a little harder at the beginning," he said.
A couple of years ago, the Arkansas House of Representatives honored the Sevier County program with a resolution highlighting its success.
At that time, 70 percent of graduates remained drug-free with no additional arrests. Gentry said that percentage is slightly higher now. Along with required substance abuse classes, the program's electives include anger management, adult education classes, career development, parenting classes or church attendance. Many graduates are now employed full time and have reclaimed custody of children previously in foster care.
Those enrolled in the program face sentences from two to 20 years.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections spends an average of $22,800 a year to house an inmate. The Sevier County program has already saved more than $1.5 million in tax dollars, Gentry said.
The Sevier County Sheriff's Office established the program in partnership with Arkansas' Jail Standards Office, a division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. A grant totaling $154,000 was provided to support the program's launch. DFA administered the grant through the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners program, provided by the Department of Justice.
Gentry said more than one thing has made the program successful. He credits the community for supporting the program and implementing different things including Bible study, Celebrate Recovery, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, parenting classes and anger management classes.
Douglas said documentary filmmakers met Gentry and Wolcott while filming a project. The documentary focused on the larger methamphetamine and opioid addiction issue in the country.
"In their research, they learned about the RSAT program and wanted to include it in his documentary. The trailer for that documentary was sent to Lori Rothschild Ansaldi at Big City TV, part of The Content Group.
"When they saw the portion of that trailer that featured the RSAT program, they went back to that filmmaker and partnered with the intention of developing a series around the program and the work of Sheriff Gentry and Wolcott. They pitched the show to TLC, and we immediately sparked to it," Douglas said.
She said TLC has been producing shows about criminal justice and addiction for many years. She said it is always a challenge to start filming in new areas because people are skeptical.
"Any time producers come to a rural area, people are skeptical. It took a lot of time and effort to create the partnership that exists now with Sheriff Gentry, Deputy Wolcott, Deputy Prosecutor Erin Hunter, Sevier County and the people of De Queen.
"We all had the same goal in mind: to shine a light on the program and how these trustees can be rehabilitated if they are given the proper time and therapy to face their addictions head on."