Pike jail expands teatment
By Mary Meadows
Staff Writer
Pikeville Medical Leader
October 24, 2008

PIKEVILLE — The Pike County Detention Center’s in-house drug treatment program is expanding.

On Oct. 21, during what Pike County District Judge Kelsey Friend described as a "monumentous occasion," officials announced the expansion of the jail’s male drug treatment program and the implementation of a female drug treatment program.

In 2006, the Pike County Detention Center started a sixmonth substance abuse pilot program for men with a total of 24 beds. Last year, the facility expanded male services to 36 beds. Now, that program will be expanded to 54 beds.

Pike County jailer Rodney Scott said the jail will receive more than $460,000 over the next two years to expand the male program and begin a 16-bed women’s treatment program inside the jail.

He said 65 men have graduated from the jail program. He said 21 graduates are still in custody and 44 graduates have been released from jail.

Of the graduates who were released, only five of them have been rearrested.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Scott said. "It’s just amazing how far this program has come in the last two years. I said we started as a pilot project. Today, we are the pilot."

The in-house drug treatment expansion will bring a total of 70 beds to help Pike County inmates with substance abuse problems. Scott said Pike County will now fall second in the number of beds dedicated for inmates undergoing substance abuse treatment programs. Christian County has 76 beds.

UNITE Pike and the Kentucky Bar Association assisted with funding, Scott said, calling the success of the current program and the expansion the result of "a group effort."

UNITE Pike Chairman Barry Chaney said it’s important that the treatment program is a faith-based program. A reunification person will teach the Lifeline program to inmate participants, connect inmates with local agencies that can help them and select support people in churches throughout the county to mentor recovering addicts after they are released from jail. Chaney said recovering addicts are often "sabotaged" by former acquaintances who are still involved with substance abuse.

Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford said he discovered the extent of Pike County's drug problem when he was out knocking on doors and campaigning for office.

"The problem was bigger than myself or any of these individuals you've heard mentioned today," he said. "We all came together realizing that something had to be done in this county. …It’s taken everyone working together to try to solve this problem. We've come a long way …We’ve got a long way to go."

Jenifer Noland, regional vice-chairperson for WestCare Kentucky, said $700,000 is still needed to remodel the former Lookout Elementary School into a facility to house a female substance abuse treatment program similar to the male facility that WestCare operates in Ashcamp.


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