SALISBURY – A $78,000 grant is expected to fund treatment group meetings at the Wicomico County Detention Center.
On Tuesday, the Wicomico County Council approved a request from the detention center to accept a $78,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) Byrne-Justice Assistance Grant Program.
George Kaloroumakis, director of the detention center, said this will not be the first grant the facility has received from the GOCCP for its medication assisted treatment program. In 2016, the center received more than $16,000 in an effort to identify and educate inmates with a history of opioid abuse on Vivitrol, a medication that prevents relapse. Those individuals were then given a dose of Vivitrol prior to leaving to the facility.
“In the prior year, we had almost 10 people leave the detention center clean and detoxed … and within three to 14 days they were dead from overdose,” he said.
Kaloroumakis said this year’s $78,000 grant will fund 50 treatment group meetings at a cost of $1,560 each. The detention center will work with Eastern Shore Psychological Services to provide the treatment groups, orientations and assessments.
“At the facility currently our primary treatment program is with the health department,” he said. “They do assessment and treatment groups for both the men and the women. At the time they weren’t doing Vivitrol. They didn’t have that in their portfolio of services. (Health Officer) Lori Brewster was totally supportive of us working with another provider.”
While the detention center received $78,000 from the GOCCP for its program, Kaloroumakis said the facility would use an additional $30,000 from its welfare fund to pay for blood testing and a second Vivitrol dose.
“We’ve allowed the provider to continue working on a limited basis using our welfare fund, so they are ready to hit the ground running in January if we can have this approved,” he said.
Council President John Cannon questioned what would happen in the treatment meetings.
“Are the treatment group meetings another name for the Vivitrol doses?” he said.
Kaloroumakis clarified that the treatment meetings would only be used for group sessions.
The council voted unanimously to approve the grant.
