New MAT Program at the Franklin County Jail
I am pleased to share the following news with our community regarding a new treatment program in the Franklin County Jail made possible through the work of St. Joseph’s Senior Outpatient Counselor at our Malone Outpatient Services Clinic, Shannon Curry.
The Franklin County Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Jail Program is a grant-funded program that helps to provide continuation of services to individuals with substance use disorder who are currently receiving medication assisted treatment.
The MAT program requires coordinating with the correctional staff, nursing staff, county personnel, and other treatment providers to maintain a continuum of care for the individuals we serve. This coordination is necessary to make sure that persons who are incarcerated have the best opportunity to continue with their individualized treatment without lapses in medication management and individual therapy.
In addition, a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based interactive journaling curriculum is utilized with other evidence-based practices. The journaling curriculum has been shown to have a notable impact on recidivism for people involved in the legal system.
St. Joseph’s providing MAT services in the Jail is a new element of our continuum of care which recently received a grant from the Divisions of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). And, on August 27, the DCJS performed their first site review of the program.
As Shannon Curry, St. Joseph’s Senior Outpatient Counselor at our Malone Outpatient Services Clinic, shares,
“One of the main concerns of the review was how COVID 19 may have impacted the delivery of services and program participation. The reviewer was pleased to be informed that there has been no disruption in services and the individuals are provided treatment at this time via telehealth individual video sessions. Since the start of the program on March 3, 2020, 14 individuals have been served through this grant which was interpreted as very impressive considering the times. The review also focused on the documentation of services provided along with the fiscal compliance aspect. St Joseph’s staff and Franklin County Jail staff have worked closely with the Divisions of Criminal Justice Services since the beginning of the program and had recognized early on that with the impact of COVID reducing jail numbers, the funds for the grant would most likely not be utilized before the grant’s end-date. With significant teamwork, numbers were projected to the Divisions of Criminal Justice Services and they happily extended our grant period through September 30th of 2021 prior to this site review.
Upon conclusion of the site review, the Divisions of Criminal Justice Services were extremely pleased with the outcomes of this program and how closely and effectively St Joe’s and the Franklin County Jail staff have worked together to provide the best treatment options for the individuals we serve.
The final comment from the reviewer was “Overall, this program is doing great and if the funds are still not utilized by the end-date, we will happily continue to work on extending this grant program for the foreseeable future.”
The work required for us to realize this very meaningful addition was significant. As Director of Community Services, Robin Gay, shares, "Shannon has done an exceptional job in maneuvering through the grant requirements, the daily scheduling, and internal and external approvals and collaboration with multiple agencies to make this happen. This was no small task."