HOULTON, Maine — A $24,000 state grant will help the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office improve substance abuse and mental health treatment services for inmates at the Aroostook County Jail.
The grant from the Maine Justice Assistance Council will help jail administrators expand upon an existing contract for services with the Aroostook Mental Health Center to benefit both male and female inmates.
A new benefit of the program is that it includes a wraparound plan for newly released inmates, Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall said Monday.
“The grant is going to allow AMHC to provide substance abuse services in jail as well as aftercare services,” said Crandall. “We will have a percentage of group participants be followed by AMHC for 90 days after they are released. That is something that has never happened before.”
This intensive care coordination, Crandall said, is meant to reduce the number of individuals who relapse into criminal behavior caused by the cycle of substance abuse and underlying mental health-related issues.
Peter McCorison, the program director of behavioral health services for AMHC, said Monday that each group program will last 12 weeks long, and inmates will be screened to determine their eligibility. The goal is to have a total of three groups.
“Once the inmates in the program leave the jail,” said McCorison, “they will undergo intensive case management, receive ongoing support and follow-up care and drug screening.”
Crandall said he anticipates starting the program by the end of the year.
“What we have been doing to address substance abuse in our jails has been falling short at least in part because it usually stops when they walk out the door,” the sheriff said. “It is time to try a new approach and with this grant we can do that.”
