(Clarinda) — Page County officials heard a request for funding from an area substance abuse treatment program.
During its regular meeting earlier this week, the Page County Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from Richard Mullen of Resilient Recovery Counseling, a Villisca-based recovery treatment program, asking for some of the funding from the county’s opioid settlement fund. Mullen requested an allocation not to exceed $3,000 per month and for the county to set aside $108,000 to fund the program for three years, providing 64 hours of service each month to Page County residents and students attending schools in the county. Mullen says the plan is to offer wrap-around services typically done outside of the “normal therapeutic setting” for substance abuse and opioid abuse prevention.
“So these services would look like resume building, career planning, asking ‘do you have access to medical care’ or do you need assistance with filling out state applications for things like Medicaid, SNAP, FIP, or things like that,'” Mullen explained. “Maybe you need help with filing for unemployment, searching for jobs, or improving technology skills. There are still a lot of people that feel very uncomfortable living in our digital world.”
Montgomery County officials approved a similar allotment for the program late last month, providing it for Montgomery County residents. He says the services are available to anybody whose life has been impacted by a substance abuse or opioid disorder.
“So it might be somebody that has an alcohol problem that also could potentially develop an opioid use disorder down the road or working with people who have multi-generational addiction concerns,” said Mullen. “For children and young adults who were raised in a home where opioids and/or other drugs were prevalent, how do we prevent them from going on and developing a substance abuse disorder down the road as well.”
Mullen says the free wrap-around services differ from those offered by Zion Recovery Services or Waubonsie Mental Health Center because they are not considered “treatment.” But, he adds that he could help connect anybody with those services should they need further substance abuse referrals. Mullen says both counties would likely benefit from the additional program, as the services are typically not offered due to being “non-reimbursable.”
“Prevention is not just going into a school and doing a presentation–that’s a prevention model that’s out there, yes–but prevention is also ‘do you have a resume to become employable, do you have career planning, and the soft skills that employers are looking for,'” he said. “Because, those soft skills in the work environment like how to work with co-workers, how you resolve conflict, and how you work as a team–those types of things are just as important to prevent opioid use disorders and other substance abuse disorders.”
He adds that he has also talked with Samantha Beeson, the shared public health administrator between Montgomery and Page counties, about utilizing office space at the annex building when he is working in Clarinda. Mullen says the hope would also be to build relationships with local law enforcement agencies and work with incarcerated individuals.
“So then when people have become incarcerated, they basically already have something in their hand before they get released,” said Mullen. “Meeting with that person on their level at that time and asking ‘what got you incarcerated’ and ‘what didn’t you have in place.’ So, that could help prevent and reduce re-arrests and their continued use of crime and things like that.”
Mullen says he would also be able to provide monthly reports to the supervisors with numbers and data. If the board approves the allotments at a meeting later this month, Mullen says the hope would be to begin offering the substance abuse prevention services for Page County in July.
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