TITLE
Title
RECEIVE AND CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION FROM BOARD SUBCOMMITTEE FOR THE WOMEN'S WITH CHILDREN RECOVERY CENTER
end
SPONSOR
Sponsor
Commissioner Kay Cashion
end
BACKGROUND
Background
In January 2022, the Guilford County Community Survey identified Behavioral Healthcare and Substance Use as one of the top five priorities for investment of ARPA dollars. In October 2022, the Guilford County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) allocated $3Million of ARPA SLFRF funds towards development of a substance use recovery housing program for pregnant women and women with children.
Currently there are no residential treatment programs in Guilford County for pregnant and parenting individuals. Going outside the county for treatment takes women away from their natural supports, creates transportation barriers, removes children from their school and social networks, and leaves women in unfamiliar communities once discharged from the program. The need for this program is evidenced by foster care and in-home service involvement due to substance misuse. In 2022, 69 children entered foster care due to substance abuse with 61% of those children between the ages of zero to five. Of families entering foster care, 52% had a single mother head of household. Additionally, in 2022, 52 children were involved in in-home services due to substance misuse with 54% of those children between the ages of zero to five.
Over the past year, Guilford County staff and committee members have evaluated similar programs to develop initial program cost models and survey potential locations for the program; traveling to sites such as: UNC Horizons in Orange County; RHCC Our House in Robeson; Mary Benson located in Buncombe and Fellowship Hall and GRTF in Guilford County.
Additionally, county representatives consulted with state partners in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Division of Health Service Regulation (DHSR) as well as other agencies providing this servi...
Click here for full text