Local counseling and crisis intervention center Walden has received a grant to hire a counselor for female inmates at the St. Mary’s County detention center. The new counselor would concentrate on drug addiction issues.
According to Walden Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kathleen O’Brien the jail is seeing an increase in its female population and an increase in the number of women arrested on drug charges. Walden has seen a 50 percent increase this year in persons seeking treatment for drug addictions. The average age of those seeking help is 18-25 O’Brien said.
Monies for the new counselor will come from an increase in the amount Walden is receiving from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene under the State General Treatment Grant. The $34,410 supplement is in addition to this year’s $2.3 million grant. The funding for the counselor will be augmented with extra monies from the sheriff’s department budget.
The county commissioners on Tuesday approved the supplemental funding.
There has been heightened community concern as the result of Bay Net reports about increased heroin usage and a corresponding increase in the number of heroin overdose deaths in St. Mary’s County. From one death last year, there already have been five heroin overdose deaths this year.
O’Brien said the majority of the heroin users started with illegal prescription drugs. The law enforcement crackdown on prescription drugs apparently has led to switch to heroin, which is cheaper and more easily obtained. She noted that Oxycodone is a form of synthetic heroin.
Commissioner Todd Morgan (R: 4th) said the Tri-County Council Board of Directors on Monday took note of the problem and talked about ways of getting involved with a solution.
The issue was also discussed Tuesday evening at the St. Mary’s County Board of Education. We’ll have a separate story on that later.
See previous Bay Net stories:
http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/34054
http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/34176
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