Substance abuse funding board backs new REALM program

A board created to review funding requests for substance abuse programming in Bartholomew County is making its first recommendation to city and county officials.

The Substance Abuse Public Funding Board on Monday unanimously approved asking the Columbus City Council and Bartholomew County Council for $241,365, to be split evenly, to fund a residential substance abuse treatment program known as REALM in the county’s Community Corrections center.

REALM, an acronym for Recovery Enables a Life for Men, is modeled after a successful Community Corrections program for women, Women Recovering with a Purpose. Also known as WRAP, the six-month residential program for women is followed by six months of monitored after-care.

REALM would provide comprehensive, evidence-based residential treatment focusing on the substance abuse needs of up to 40 male offenders each year It would be housed in the Bartholomew County Community Corrections Center at the back of the Bartholomew County Jail, with 15 individuals in the residential treatment program at a time.

This is a separate program from anything Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers may be seeking for an in-jail treatment program, according to county officials.

The committee recommended the program receive funding for the final three months of this year, and full funding for next year, for a combined total of $241,365.

If both the city council and county council approve splitting the funding, four positions would be created: A case manager, two residential staff members and a contracted mental health professional who will serve as program coordinator, said Rob Gaskill, Bartholomew County Community Corrections Center director of residential services.

The proposal approved Monday would lead to an interlocal agreement between the city and the county to share funding for the REALM program. The funding extends only through 2019. If the program is to continue beyond that, additional funding from the public funding board or another source would need to be found.

Males who are nonviolent offenders could be ordered and accepted into REALM as part of their sentence from a judge, Gaskill said. Other requirements include having space available for the individual; that the individual is at moderate to high risk to go back to substance abuse; and that no other Community Corrections program can meet their needs.

Bartholomew County Councilwoman Laura DeDominic, a member of the funding board, said she supports the REALM program as it would provide services less expensively than it would cost to keep a male defendant in jail.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, another member of the funding board, said the WRAP program has shown that REALM participants may have a greater chance of success through the program.

When making the motion to send the project to city and county councils for funding, Lienhoop said dividing the cost in half shows the city and county working together on an important issue.

“The WRAP program is a local program that has shown great success,” said Bartholomew County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop, a third funding board member. “We’re hoping for equal success with REALM. But we’re not going to know until they try and we make this initial investment.”

The other two members of the board are Columbus City Council President Frank Miller and Columbus Regional Health President and CEO Jim Bickel.

Money to pay for the program would come from Local Income Tax money set aside for substance abuse program funding by the city and county earlier this year.

For more on this story, see today’s Republic.