$1.3M grant allows treatment for jailed Clark County women
Agencies, city work together to fund addiction services.
A new federally funded grant of $1.3 million over three years will enable women incarcerated in the Clark County Jail to receive treatment for addiction issues while they are imprisoned.
On Tuesday night before their meeting, Springfield city commissioners learned about a new program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Partnering on the grant application were the city of Springfield, Clark County, the Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Greene & Madison Counties and Mckinley Hall.
Mental Health Recovery Board CEO Greta Mayer praised the partnership of public and private entities in jointly pursuing the three-year grant to improve services, support and outcomes for women struggling with addiction.
“This will enable us to implement evidence-based programs to help residents of the jail, while incarcerated, to get treatment and better care, and greater access to recovery services and housing support after release from jail,” she said.
Mckinley Hall CEO Wendy Doolittle told commissioners the new program will mirror an existing program for incarcerated men.
“We’ve been able to provide services to men in the Clark County Jail and transition them to outpatient services, but we haven’t had the opportunity to match that for women,” Doolittle said.
“This grant allows us to go to the jail and provide intensive services and medication to help them transition out into recovery housing and intensive treatment and case management.”
Under the program, participants receive assessments and begin treatment in jail. They work with a case manager who helps with their transition back into the community upon release.
Assistance with housing is part of the plan of care. Once released, they are offered a full spectrum of treatment options.
Doolittle said the program helps prep people before they leave the jail to focus on improving their life circumstances and learning recovery skills.
Doolittle also indicated that Pinnacle, the area’s only methadone certified recovery housing facility, has committed to providing housing for five women upon release from jail, further extending treatment during recovery.
Efforts to stem drug addiction locally are increasingly turning toward a broad continuum of services available to address the issue.
Doolittle said this new program is a complement to the Drug Court interventions Clark County’s family and youth courts implemented in 2021, offering offenders with substance abuse-related charges treatment services, screening and supervision.
Mckinley Hall offers outpatient treatment and a men’s inpatient program, as well as recovery house support. Medication-assisted treatment for those struggling with addiction have been offered at Mckinley Hall since 2005.
Mckinley Hall outreach programs include a syringe exchange program and training and distribution of free naloxone kits for emergency use in an overdose.
The organization also has an opioid response team that provides immediate followup and treatment services after an overdose.