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