How a BART Crisis Intervention Specialist helped a mother find her lost son and get him into treatment

CIS Lataisha Marin and CIS Rahman Bagby respond to a call.

Supporting a family member with severe drug addiction is challenging and devastating. Alec's mother, who asked to remain anonymous, had been trying for years to get Alec the help he needed before he disappeared. It was a struggle. Many organizations weren't right for Alec or wouldn't accept him. Often it felt like there was no place for him at all.

It took months and months of research, contacting organizations, and a large financial investment until she was able to find a program that might be right for her son.

"You have to advocate endlessly," she said by phone. "People in the state my son was in cannot deal with the bureaucracy of social services. You have to be able to communicate eloquently and be persistent, and he couldn't do that."

Bagby and Wiltz networked for Alec's mom, connecting her with organizations that might suit her son's needs. Eventually, she got to know the entire BART Crisis Intervention team. For the first time in a long time, she had hope that she could get him into the right rehabilitation setting.

"Without Rahman, Alec wouldn't be in recovery today," she said. "He totally committed himself to Alec. He was always available, would call me when he saw Alec on the street so I could connect him with the interventionist."

"Alec felt so comfortable with Rahman, and with his help, we were able to stabilize him," she continued. "Rahman was the one who truly understood Alec, and he coordinated so many efforts."

She said Bagby took her son to a safe place and stayed with him while he slept, waiting for transport to the rehab community his mom connected him with.

Bagby said rapport building is crucial and understanding that getting someone help can be a process requiring repeated interactions.

"You're working with people on stages of change," Bagby explained. "Many of them are in the pre-contemplation stage of their addiction - they're not addressing the issue, and they don't want to. Sometimes, they're not quite ready, but they're grateful you spoke to them."

Bagby says you must lead with compassion and patience in his line of work.

"You have to embrace the challenge and recognize that a lot of times when you're talking to people, it's the drugs, the addiction talking back to you," he said.

With Alec, Bagby focused on talking to him about his declining health in order to get him to a place where he might consider treatment.

"You are not able to sustain what you're putting your body through," he told Alec. "It resonated with him. He knew he was not comfortable. And I always said, 'Alec, you're the expert, I'm just here to help if you want it."

The turning point was when Alec recognized his complete physical exhaustion.

"I'm not comfortable," he told Bagby, who replied, "As soon as you tell me to go, I have transportation and a facility for you. This can be immediate."