Officials argue for treatment and homeless housing in Butler County
Hamilton Journal NewsOct 28, 2019
One part of the equation will be addressed by the mental health and addiction board next year with a
"Those folks conceivably need recovery housing," he said.
He said the board plans to seek requests for proposals early next year to add more beds. The budget is
"They use as soon as they get in our parking lot," Jones said. "Their moms or their brothers or their sisters are waiting in the parking lot so they can shoot up."
Sojourner Recovery Services was the first to open recovery housing units in 2014 with 26 beds for women in
"It's very important to us to maintain a full continuum of care," Gehring said. "So we try to make sure when a patient comes through treatment, if they do not have a safe sober place to live post-treatment, then it kind of negates all the work that we did. Peer associations tend to be the largest influencer for relapse."
He said if an addict is able to maintain sober living in connection to a treatment provider for 18 months, the chances of long-term sobriety increase by 80 percent.
Gehring said the rooms are free at first and patients can stay as long as they need, but "program fees" apply as the person gets back on their feet, is able to work and pay for their own place to live. There are "house rules" residents must follow, and building managers enforce the rules.
Recovery housing was a key cog in a program Commissioner
There are 14 moms in the program now, and
"This means everything, absolutely everything," McMullin said. "That has been one of my very, very top concerns, was that I'm going to lose my children forever because I can't get financially stable enough to provide for them, to provide a stable house. If I have that, it will give me time to get a job and be able to maintain a stable life. It is just amazing."
"If we had more housing available I think we can better grapple with the problems," Presiding Judge
Commissioner
Dixon said any money the county would receive from its part in a large lawsuit against drug companies over the opioid epidemic can be put toward a solution. The county,
"The problem is not just housing, it's the opioid problem, the mental health problem, it's just the segment of terrible things going on in society. One is tied to the other," Dixon said. "So you've got to find a solution that can cover all those or most of those. I haven't seen anybody come up with a total solution for that but hopefully with the opioid settlement, depending how much we get, maybe we can get a little more interesting cooperation from the total community."
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