COLUMBUS — The Shelby County Sheriff’s Treatment and Recovery (STAR) House has been awarded $110,000 in grant funds from the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s (ODPS) Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS).
The state of Ohio recently announced awards of more than $400,000 in federal grant funding to assist state and local governments in developing and implementing substance abuse treatment programs in correctional and detention facilities and to create and maintain community-based aftercare services for offenders.
“It is an operational grant and we are very pleased about (receiving the grant),” Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart told the Sidney Daily News Thursday morning. ”The funds should be coming any time now.”
The STAR House is a recovery house that works in conjunction with the Shelby County Jail. It will celebrate its two year anniversary in June 2021, Lenhart said. Ten people have graduated so far and are living a sober, successful life since leaving the STAR House, he said. The recovery house can house up to 20 people at a time.
Lenhart expressed gratitude to Tri-County Mental Health, Shelby County Commissioners, the Shelby County United Way and employees of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for help with to get the STAR House up and running.
Deputy Chief Jim Frye said, “I concur with what everything the sheriff said. The grant goes to Tri-County Mental Health, and (the STAR House) operates under that.”
“We have seen the devastation of opiate abuse in Ohio,” said OCJS Executive Director Karhlton Moore in a press release. “OCJS is deeply committed to supporting agencies that offer substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation of inmates while also providing essential tools that best prepare people to successfully reintegrate into the community.”
Other grants were also awarded to:
• Montgomery County MonDay’s RSAT Program, which focuses on developing the cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, and other skills of offenders according to their needs. The program was awarded $179,157.
• The Alvis RSAT Program, which receives referrals from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and Franklin County Probation and admits women who are assessed as moderate- to high-risk to recidivate. The program received $137,986.
The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Program, administered by OCJS, allows local and state governments to provide residential substance abuse treatment for incarcerated inmates; prepares offenders for reintegration into the communities from which they came by incorporating reentry planning activities into treatment programs; and assists offenders and their communities through the reentry process through the delivery of community-based treatment and other broad-based aftercare services.
For a more information, please visit the OCJS website at www.ocjs.ohio.gov
