The first proposed joint project by local government to address Bartholomew County’s opioid crisis has become a reality.
The Bartholomew County’s commissioners gave their approval Monday to an inter-local agreement with the city of Columbus that will create the Recovery Enables a Life for Men program.
Known as REALM, the new program will provide comprehensive, evidence-based residential treatment focusing on the substance abuse needs of up to 40 male offenders each year.
“The city council, county council and the Columbus Board of Works have all approved this,” said Mary Ferdon, the city’s executive director of administration and community development, who serves as a facilitator for the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress (ASAP) in Bartholomew County. “Now that the commissioners have signed the agreement, the REALM program is good to go.”
REALM, which will be funded through 2019, will be housed in the Bartholomew County Community Corrections Center at the back of the county jail, with 15 individuals in the residential treatment program at a time.
Four staff positions will 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 inter-local agreement covers salary and benefits for the case manager and staff members, who will be considered county employees.
If existing qualified employees are willing to fill the positions for REALM, it will take 30 to 60 days to get the new program started, according to Brad Barnes, Bartholomew County Court Services director.
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.
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 city is paying $120,683 for the program, while the county is contributing $48,750 from its general fund — although that amount will be repaid by ASAP. This money comes from Local Income Tax money set aside for substance abuse program funding by the city and county earlier this year.
It was announced last spring the county had already received an $85,978 grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to pay for one position in the REALM program.
The need for a men’s treatment program has been a topic of discussion locally since 2012, when a residential substance abuse program for men that served 17 counties, including Bartholomew, closed in Clark County after state funding was eliminated.
The ASAP initiative was launched in Bartholomew County in April 2017 to identify the gaps in the substance abuse treatment system and to prioritize and implement solutions.
In October 2017, ASAP announced its strategy to address opioid addiction and substance abuse based on prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About REALM” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
What: Recovery Enables a Life for Men (REALM), an evidence-based residential treatment program focusing on the substance abuse needs of up to 40 male offenders each year.
Where: At the Bartholomew County Community Corrections Center, at the back of the county jail.
When: As soon as it can get started this year, and currently through the end of 2019. Four positions to be filled to get program started.
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