Jan. 15—GRAND FORKS — After spending the last couple of years assisting former
North Dakota First Lady Kathryn Burgum with reducing addiction stigma,
a Grand Forks man is bringing his professional and personal experience to a new position in Gov. Kelly Armstong’s Cabinet.
The hope, according to Jonathan Holth, is to build relationships with stakeholders and find ways to best support the incarcerated population as well as those experiencing substance use and mental health issues.
“The goal here is to help save lives and improve lives,” Holth told the Grand Forks Herald. “There are a lot of different ways to get there. I think it’s too early to talk about specific plans on how that’s going to happen, but that will always be the north star for us.”
There are many issues the state must try to address,
including correctional center overcrowding at all levels,
Holth said.
His work as commissioner of Recovery and Reentry began about five minutes after the end of Armstrong’s Jan. 7 State of the State address. As soon as they walked out of the chambers, meetings were being put on the calendar.
There has been a lot of interest in the new role, Holth said.
“There are a lot of people who have said, ‘This is something that we need,’ and, ‘We need to work more in this space,'” he said. “So there’s a lot of excitement that I’ve heard, a lot of interest to partner — whether it’s from local governments, from legislators, from other state departments.”
There have been many positive reactions, Holth said, and now it’s a matter of working hard to meet with everyone. He is looking forward to it.
He will continue to live in Grand Forks, where he co-owns two businesses, but will spend much of his time in Bismarck for the legislative sessions and on the road.
“I want to get out there and see what’s happening, and develop relationships all across the state — in counties large and small — and be a resource,” he said.
Among those with whom Holth will communicate are lawmakers, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, county correctional centers, law enforcement, the judicial system, tribal partners, addiction counselors “and everyone else who cares about providing services to the people in our communities who desperately need them the most,” Armstrong said in his State of the State address.
Armstrong expressed confidence in Holth’s abilities.
“I think he’s just absolutely the right person for this job, and I’m excited for it,” Armstrong told the Herald.
Holth’s job will take him throughout North Dakota, where he will meet with people such as county sheriffs and jail administrators, then communicate their needs to the Legislature, as well as his own observations. With that information, he will work to find new and unique ways to help rehabilitate people more quickly and safely, he said.
One entity, the state’s behavioral health division, has been incredible for North Dakota, with amazing and effective programs, Holth said. In his positions at Recovery Reinvented, he’s been able to work closely with the division and observe its work.
“(But) we don’t know if all counties are effectively using the programs that are available,” Holth said. “We also know that what happens and what works in Fargo or Grand Forks is very different than what can work in our rural communities.”
A large part of his role, at least in the beginning, will be to listen. After hearing people express what they’re seeing, what’s working and not working, he can then start making plans.
“I’m not going to be the person who comes in and starts telling people what I think they should be doing right out of the gate,” Holth said.
Though it’s too soon to say what everyone will need, he does anticipate part of the conversation will be about workforce, and making it easier to enter for people who were incarcerated and are reentering the general population.
“Are there ways that we can make that (process) more streamlined or easier?” he said. “And also, are we ensuring that they have the services when they reenter society to stay in recovery, so that they can be an effective and productive employee, too? I think that’s all part of the discussion.”
Holth’s experience includes serving on an advisory council for the Office of Recovery Reinvented before taking over as RR’s managing director.
“My background is really just being public about my story, and then working over the past few years on reducing stigma and building relationships in the behavioral health world,” he said.
Also, as a small business owner, Holth has seen how behavioral health issues and addiction can impact his own workforce, so he has worked to find innovative ways to support his employees during their difficult times.
“It’s a lot of lived experience,” he said. “I’m just hoping to try to apply some of that to this new position.”
He will be paid $155,000 annually for the role. Whether it extends past Armstrong’s period as governor is not currently on Holth’s mind, as he is focused on what can be accomplished in the near future, he said.
Armstrong said there were three key factors in the creation of this role:
* awareness that providing services to vulnerable people keeps them out of the criminal justice system, and ultimately saves money;
* admiration for Kathryn Burgum’s work with Recovery Reinvented, and a long-term friendship with Holth;
* and a belief that there’s a better way to make use of Cabinet resources.
The need for mental health and addiction treatment and services is high, Armstrong said. There aren’t enough people pursuing careers in addiction counseling to fill open positions across the nation. It’s not exclusively a North Dakota problem, he said, but it becomes more challenging in rural communities.
Said Armstrong: “I think Jonathan’s 1) work in this space with the first lady; 2) being in recovery himself; and 3) understanding the dynamics of state government versus county government versus local government will be a tremendous asset to sit down with stakeholders, figure out what works, figure out what doesn’t and figure out how we can get creative in this space.”
Armstrong hopes they will be able to make the system function a little bit more effectively every month and, along the way, find good solutions.