APD Deputy Chief Lovetta Quinn-Henry.
By Dr. Phyllis Olmstead
Lovetta Quinn-Henry, PhD's 2024 dissertation was "Understanding the Lived Experiences of Law Enforcement Officers Utilizing Employee Assistance Programs After Critical Incidents," which involved assessing law enforcement officers (LEOs) access and usage of employee assistance professionals (EAPs).
Quinn's years of experience on the bricks, in the office, and her education in criminal justice and psychology will serve her well in handling our issues in Apopka. She will need all of that, a lot of prayers, and some good luck dealing with us.
Related: Does criminalizing homelessness reduce homelessness?
Sheepskin application
We sat down for a fifteen-minute interview at six a.m. Friday morning to discuss people in need in our community. Two hours later, we finally got to the topic of the unhoused for the last nine minutes. We discussed every other issue in the city first; her coffee was cold by then.
How does a woman ready for retirement end up with fresh sheepskin and the chief's job in Apopka?
She has an incredible passion for helping people. Dr. Quinn-Henry knows that prevention is more successful than punitive action for many.
Helping individuals in crisis before putting cuffs on saves people's lives and the community money.
A tour of Bithlo
As Deputy Chief of Police of the City of Orlando, Quinn toured a special program in Bithlo for lifting up people in its low-income, low-educated, high-substance abuse area, resulting in high levels of homelessness and mental illness.
She discovered that Transformation Village was a town growing out of a destitute area that lacked resources and leadership. They lacked clean water, infrastructure, decent housing, transportation, medical care, and social services. The school had no library, trailers, and the houses were dilapidated.
Hard work, private donations, and a half-million-dollar Orange County grant are making progress in fixing some of the problems.
The second item she mentioned was a Florida Statute. Title XXIX Public Health, Chapter 397 Substance Abuse Specialists, SECTION 417 Peer specialists. This state law provides certification of closely vetted people who have had substance abuse backgrounds that are proven to be free of substance use, certified for over two years, to be peer specialists.
For example, if a previously addicted teacher or counselor lost a certificate or license, they could go through the process and assist others in need. Quinn indicated that if an officer, teacher, or doctor made a substance mistake and was caught after suffering an injury and could no longer work in their profession, they could still contribute to the system through peerage.
How does this help Apopka?
LEOs have EAPs available to them, as Dr Quinn-Henry's dissertation pointed out, but usually do not avail themselves of them after traumatic events. Citizens suffering traumatic events often do not have the luxury of EAPs or mental health counselors.
Destitute to begin with, when that bald retread tire blows, the resulting accident on the way to work ends in yet another job loss and broken ribs. The entire event is traumatic.
After a trip to the ER, the bills stack up from losing the job, and now there is no car to get a new one in, compounded by the pain of the injuries, leading to self-medicating with alcohol or street drugs. The rent is nowhere to be found. Food is scarce. Now couch surfing is the only option until caught raiding the medicine cabinet.
Is there money for counseling or healthcare? No.
The Peer program is to guide this person through emotional trauma to stop the drug usage and reverse the situation.
Housing
Dr Quinn also mentioned trading broken-down trailers for small houses, not tiny ones. She mentioned keeping them where they are, but building the house on the trailer spot, so they do not lose their heritage.
In Bithlo, they can keep their wells and septic tanks to maintain low bills. That would have to be carefully assessed here in the Wekiva Watershed. Grants would be required to build the septic-to-sewer systems for people in need, and the wells would need to be grandfathered.
Preventing the fall and lifting up
What does the approach look like from this side of the table? It looks like prevention and uplifting.
Understanding the reason why people do things and stopping them from doing it again is not being soft on crime. It is prevention.
Dr Quinn wants to reduce drug addictions and usage by education and by the best counselors possible, certified former users who have broken the habit. They know the tricks of the trade, can see the games, and understand the cost and suffering.
She wants to prevent homelessness by converting and fixing poor housing before it falls down around the residents, so they do not end up in the cycle and on the streets.
The more destitute people are, the more likely they are to abuse substances and commit crimes.
It looks like Peer Specialists and fixing housing could affect a reduction in substance abuse, thus lowering other crimes in Apopka.
Let's do it, Dr Quinn-Henry. We look forward to your promotion.
