County commissioners to pursue state grant to fight opioid/alcohol abuse (2024)

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Lebanon County officials are hoping to help more inmates on their journeys to sobriety by applying for a two-year statewide drug treatment program grant.

Lebanon County Commissioners unanimously voted on Thursday, July 3, to pursue a state grant totaling about $107,000 for drug treatment for county inmates.

Tina Litz, warden of Lebanon County Correctional Facility, requested and received permission to apply for a 2024 noncompetitive (non-matching), county-based grant via the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s Vivitrol Program.

Litz said 62 grants totaling $7.17 million will be distributed statewide with Lebanon County’s potential share totaling $106,892. The two-year grant would run from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2026.

“What we’re understanding is that although our data indicates that we’re not using Vivitrol a lot, you may recall, 2019, we had a robust program going,” said Litz. “Since then and the interjection of the Medical Assisted Treatment (MAT) program, a lot of individuals’ preference is not to go with Vivitrol, they’re choosing to use some of the drugs that are offered through the MAT program.”

Despite the fact that no inmates are choosing this particular drug, Litz said there is legislation pending that would permit grant recipients, if one is awarded to Lebanon County and the bill becomes law, to allocate those monies for the MAT program.

“As you know from prison board (meetings), it (MAT) has been expanding at great numbers,” added Litz.

Litz said LCCF’s treatment provider, Harrisburg-based PrimeCare, has more than doubled the number of inmates it’s treating through MAT. An information sheet provided to LebTown noted that 108 inmates participated in the MAT program in 2023.

“What we’re seeing, in comparison to the community numbers, is more of a driving force, more individuals wanting to be on medical assistance,” said Litz. “We used to think that it (re-entry into society) is a process, but what we’re learning is that it is a journey. So in an addictive person’s recovery journey, what they’re liking to have, or prefer to have, is to get ahead of what faces them on the street.”

The ultimate goal for the county, added Litz, is to help those who receive treatment to survive after they are released from prison.

“What we’re hoping is to be a participant in having those overdose numbers continue to decrease,” she said. “I think at the last DDAP (Department on Drugs and Alcohol Program) meeting that those numbers were slightly down. Slightly might be one or two individuals, but those numbers are a big deal to the community.”

Litz noted that Vivitrol is an opioid and an alcohol blocker that prohibits the feeling of getting high for the user, adding that while she’s not an expert it is acceptable over other treatment options. Vivitrol is administered via a shot.

Treatment does not end once a prisoner leaves the county correctional facility.

Litz said with inmates only staying in prison for about three weeks, PrimeCare facilitates a handoff of individuals to other local treatment programs outside the auspices of LCCF and stated that Lebanon County and others “have a plethora of programs to continue treatment” following release.

In other county business on a light pre-holiday agenda, commissioners voted to authorize 27 subcontractor contracts through Lebanon County Community Action Partnership for fiscal year 2024-25. The approvals are for the Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP), meaning individuals who are transported are for Medicaid-approved appointments only.

MATP coordinator Beth Reddinger said CAP transports patients across Pennsylvania and even into other states, with those longer and out-of-state doctor visits for specialty treatments that are unattainable locally.

Patients have to apply and schedule through the county’s CAP office. The drivers who use their own vehicles receive a mileage reimbursem*nt, and most of the contracts were increased by $5 per visit.

Reddinger said the following destinations all increased by $5: Lebanon city, to $35; Hershey, to $55; surrounding counties like Berks and Lancaster, to $90; York County, to $115; Philadelphia, to $215; and Pittsburgh, to $515.

County Commission chairman Bob Phillips said funds are finite and asked Reddinger to provide a reason why some patients are being transported long distances.

“A lot of the doctors’ offices in Lebanon County do not have the specialty that’s needed, so we have to go to Philly or Pittsburgh or there are doctor’s offices that are no longer accepting Medicaid insurance,” said Reddinger. “We are to transport them to the closest doctor’s office, but that’s not always something we can do. We don’t go to Pittsburgh frequently, but we do go to Philadelphia two to three times a week.”

Reddinger added that most of the Philadelphia trips are to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. County administrator Jamie Wolgemuth emphasized that the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh trips are for specialty visits and not because local doctor offices are no longer accepting Medicaid insurance.

Reddinger told LebTown that the subcontractors are responsible for their own vehicle insurance, provide their driver’s record and are subject to criminal background and child abuse clearance checks.

“They are responsible to get that before they come in for an interview, so if there is an issue we won’t bring them on,” added Reddinger.

Unlike transportation businesses like Uber, CAP does not have a requirement for their subcontractors to have a certain make and model of car to be a program participant.

In other actions taken by the commissioners, they voted to:

• Approve real estate tax exemptions for four fully disabled veterans.
• Accept the minutes of their June 20 meeting, June 19 workshop, the treasurer’s report and personnel transactions.

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