Program opens up new option

Recovery Centers accepting men with young children

Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers is now permitting children under the age of 3 to accompany their fathers at its Lake House men’s residential facility.

The option is already available for women with children at LakeGeauga’s Oak House and Neveaeh Ridge residential treatment centers. Lake-Geauga stated the program focuses on maintaining family unity.

The change in the men’s residential program comes after a feasibility study was conducted for Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers by Leadership Lake County, and it found a lack of similar programs for men in Lake County and the state in general.

From January 2017 through September 2018, 65 percent of children under 2 years old entered the Lake County Department of Jobs and Family

Services because of home life due to a parent having a substance use disorder, according to the department. Of those children, 91 percent were under the age of 1. As of Nov. 1, there are 89 children in the department’s custody and there are more than 1,000 grandparents in Lake County raising their grandchildren because of substance use disorder among the parents.

The Geauga County Job and Family Services departments said that between January and August 2018 they had 100 cases where substance abuse was a concern.

The opioid epidemic has also put a strain on the state’s foster care system. A report released last year by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio estimates that there will be more than 20,000 Ohio children in foster care by 2020, nearly a 60 percent increase from 2013.

Clearly there is a need to improve access to treatment for men with young children, said Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers CEO Melanie Blasko.

“If a father has a substance use disorder, the care for the dependent child may present a challenge in seeking treatment. We are proud to be one of the first in the State of Ohio to offer this service.”

Those seeking more information are asked to contact Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers at 440255-0678.