HILLSBORO, Ohio—Sitting in a jail cell alone, separated from her husband and teenage son, Candice Mueller said she was confronted with a decision that would alter the rest of her life: Make changes, or likely face an early death.

Mueller had battled substance abuse for more than two decades. In 2021, she was convicted of operating a vehicle while impaired and never completed the assigned treatments, so there were warrants for her arrest. Before her scheduled court appearance, Mueller recalls, she asked God for grace.