FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2019
Marion County Selected to Participate in National Initiative to Expand Opioid Treatment in Jails
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced today that it has been selected to participate in a national program to expand medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in jails.
The county will receive expert guidance on how to overcome barriers to providing opioid treatment and scholarships for five staff members to attend trainings in Washington, D.C. Experts will work with jail officials to create treatment guidelines, manage administration of the medications, and educate jail staff about addiction.
Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal remarked, “The opioid epidemic is the greatest crisis facing the criminal justice system in Marion County. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is proud to receive this funding so that we may continue to offer extensive services to arrestees and inmates facing addiction, while they are in custody, and upon their release, giving them assistance with recovery and ending the horrifying cycle of addiction and the massive toll it takes on these individuals and our community.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office will also develop a plan with local health care officials to ensure people can access treatment after they’re released. The program is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, and Arnold Ventures, a national philanthropy headquartered in Houston, Texas. In addition to supporting efforts to expand treatment for opioid use disorder, the philanthropy is also working to improve the criminal justice system through reforms to policing, pretrial, probation and parole, and reintegration services.
Marion County is now one of 15 jurisdictions that will participate in the Planning Initiative to Build Bridges Between Jail and Community-Based Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder.
For more information about the Planning Initiative to Build Bridges Between Jail and Community-Based Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, visit https://www.arnoldventures.org/work/the-opioid-epidemic.
