Over $600,000 will be expended by Wayne County to start a facility in Honesdale to help women reach sobriety and improve their ability to reenter the workforce.
The county commissioners agreed Aug. 22 to the funding to renovate the existing county-owned building at 650 1/2 Park St., Honesdale, last occupied by Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance Career Services Division, which moved to the Jadwin Building at 107 8th St.. The building on Route 6 is close to the Park Street Complex.
A minimum of $601,065 of opioid settlement dollars and guaranteed future payments for the renovation were agreed upon in the motion.
"This is a major step forward for recovery-to-work services; this is a big piece of it, so we are excited about it," said Commissioner Jocelyn Cramer, who was presiding.
The county has been negotiating with a service provider, but the provider has not yet been chosen, County Clerk Andrew Seder said.
"Our Drug & Alcohol staff coordinates services, they don't provide those services, and we are really lacking female, sober live-in facilities all over Northeastern Pennsylvania, not just Wayne County," Cramer said. "So, to have a handful of beds there is going to be huge. Because we don't need 30, 40 or 50. We need six, seven or eight."
Because it is a county-owned facility, Cramer said that this reduces the overhead for the provider and allows the provide to accommodate more people, underinsured or uninsured, and improve the services offered.
Vicky Botjer, chief financial officer for the county, explained in an email that another program, Little Creek in the Hamlin area, currently operates Shane’s House for men, but there is nothing for women in Wayne County, for this kind of program.
The current plan is to be able to house up to 11 women, Botjer said, while stressing that the county is still in the planning stages.
"It is group living situation that does provide support from a provider," Botjer said. "But it really is for them to learn how to live sober again in the community." She said the county plans to ensure the live-in sobriety program links with Workforce Alliance, the county's Drug & Alcohol Commission which offers treatment programs, and the county transportation department.
This money is not from local county tax dollars, but rather is part of an allocation made to Wayne County from a nationwide class-action suit made by states and counties against drug manufacturers and retail pharmacy chains that were determined to be "creating and fueling the crisis" of misuse of highly addictive prescription opioid painkillers, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
Wayne County received $2.2 million with payments to be made over an 18-year period, in what is now referred to as Wave 1. In July, the commissioners announced receipt of Wave 2, generating a minimum of $770,000 for Wayne County to be used in addressing addictions to controlled substances.
More: Wayne County getting $770K in opioid settlement funds, on top of original $2.2 million
Part of the first round of settlement money has already been used in Wayne County to facilitate a medical assistance treatment program in the county correctional facility.
The first wave of funds needs to be spent by the end of 2025, Seder said.
Botjer stated that the resolution passed by the commissioners allows her to submit this as support for opioid settlement funds to be committed while "we continue to work through the process."
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County OKs opioid settlement funds for live-in sobriety program for women
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