Addiction Treatment Programs in Butler County Doubles Funding
Funding for addiction treatment programs in Butler County, Ohio has recently doubled. The county’s Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board were given permission to allocate $2 million from mental health levy funds toward addiction treatment programs.
“We have been getting a lot of funding in our state to address opiate prevention treatment harm reduction in our county,” said Scott Rasmus, the board’s executive director.
Get Robert H’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
The 21st Century Cures Act authorized up to $26 million in funding for the next two years for the state of Ohio.
A couple years ago, the board was denied funds from the mental health levies for drug abuse treatment service because it was not recognized as a clinical condition. Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser recently reread the documents and confirmed mental health funding could be applied to substance abuse.
“It helped us divert money that was strictly for mental health,” Rasmus stated. “Now they can be used for substance use, not specifically opiates, any substance use.”
The addiction treatment programs set forth by the Opiate Business Plan are intended to help Butler County find a solution to their opioid crisis. According to a recent Butler County Overdose Report, 232 overdose deaths occurred in 2017, which represents a 125 percent increase since 2012.
