Columbia River Mental Health Services announced Thursday it will be working toward a partnership with the Clark County Jail to provide treatment for opioid addiction in the correctional facility.
If the plan comes to fruition, the jail would be the first in Washington with a certified opioid treatment program, according to officials who spoke at the re-entry provider meeting at the Public Service Center in Vancouver. Opioids include heroin and prescription pain medications.
“Through our experiences, we’ve learned that our population with opiate use disorders need more services than we’ve historically provided,” said Clark County Jail Chief Ric Bishop. “We’ve learned that we need to do more.”
Generally speaking, the program would be an expansion of services offered at the jail since February. Columbia River Mental Health, a nonprofit that serves Medicaid patients, obtained a three-year, $1.5 million grant through the U.S. Department of Health’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in October 2018 for medication assisted treatment, or MAT services, within the jail. Read more>>