MORGANTOWN — A West Virginia University College of Law graduate discovered her passion to combat the opioid crisis plaguing the state and came up with a plan.
Claire Swauger graduated from the College of Law in May with a concentration on energy and sustainable development law. She joined the school's Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic during her time as a student in an attempt to gain practical work experience.
Swauger said the supervisors and employees at the clinic inspired her.
Claire Swauger
| WVU College of Law news release
"I've never met a group of harder working passionate people," Swauger said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "They're committed to making West Virginia a better place and it's infectious."
Swauger is currently working at the clinic temporarily and is teaching Natural Resource Policy and Law at Chatham University.
"I hope to find a job and return to the Greater Pittsburgh Area," Swauger said.
Part of Swauger's job at LUSD, while she was a student, was gathering public comments on projects for the clinic's clients. Her job also included developing comprehensive plans that would serve as blueprints for local governments to help with the future of that community.
This inspired Swauger to create a framework for a plan to combat the crisis, along with Jarden Anderson, an attorney with the law clinic,
The framework came from a 2016 joint report published by the National League of Cities and Counties titled "A Prescription for Action: Local Leadership in Ending the Opioid Crisis."
Swauger said the report recommended that local governments focus on (1) Leading in a Crisis, (2) Focusing on Prevention and Education, (3) Expanding Treatment, and (4) Reassessing Safety and Law Enforcement Approaches.
"The clinic spoke with experts and developed specific action steps and mechanisms to address the four opioid mitigation focus areas," Swauger said. "The innovative aspect was applying this framework to comprehensive plans."
The framework is now being used in a proposed plan for Mercer County.
Swauger is from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She wants to fight the opioid epidemic because her identical twin sister became addicted to opioids when they were 11 years old. She has now been clean for four years.
Swauger wants to combine her law school background and her personal experiences to help fight the opioid epidemic across Appalachia.
Swauger and her sister hope to eventually open an addiction clinic and policy center. With the center, they would implement evidence-based treatment and make recommendations to local governments as they address the opioid epidemic in their individual communities.
