(COLUMBUS) – The Ohio Department of Public Safety’s (ODPS) Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) has announced 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.

“We have seen the devastation of opiate abuse in Ohio,” said OCJS Executive Director Karhlton Moore. “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.”

Grants were awarded to:

• Montgomery County MonDay’s RSAT Program 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 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Treatment and Recovery (S.T.A.R.) House is a Recovery House that works in conjunction with the Shelby County Jail. The S.T.A.R. House was awarded $110,000.

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.