$3 million allocated to 10 local jails for substance-abuse treatment programs; final round of $10 million in funding from heroin bill

In the final delivery of the $10 million that was appropriated in this year’s anti-heroin legislation, more than $3 million is being distributed to provide substance-abuse treatment for both county and state inmates in jails, and to provide injectable, extended-release treatment for offenders as they are released from custody, a state news release announced.

“Throughout my administration we’ve worked across party lines to combat substance abuse, targeting methamphetamine, prescription drug abuse, synthetic drugs and, most recently, heroin,” Gov. Steve Beshear said in the news release. “These grants will build on those initiatives, and will help expand critical treatment services to help individuals break the cycle of addiction.”

Half the money will be used to launch new substance-abuse treatment programs in six jails and expand existing treatment programs in two others. The other half will be used in some of the jail programs for the injectable treatment, which is designed to prevent relapse. Known as Medically Assisted Treatment, the MAT funding will cover 763 offenders participating in substance-abuse treatment programs, the release said.

The final round of funding will bring the total number of substance-abuse treatment slots in jails to 5,773, an increase of more than 300 percent since the end of 2007. The funded programs are:

• Boyd County Detention Center: A new 20-bed program for male state inmates.
• Casey County Detention Center: A new 50-bed program for male state inmates.
• Daviess County Detention Center: Expand program by 25 beds for state inmates.
• Fayette County Detention Center: A new 20-bed program for male state inmates, including MAT.
• Kenton County Detention Center: A new 70-bed program (20 state inmates, 50 county inmates), including MAT.
• Laurel County Detention Center: A new 36-bed program for county inmates.
• Louisville Metro Department of Corrections: A 60-bed program for county inmates, including MAT.
• Mason County Detention Center: Expand program for state inmates by 20 beds.
• Montgomery County Detention Center: A new 20-bed program for county inmates.
• Pulaski County Detention Center: Approved for use of MAT.