P-J file photo by Jordan Patterson

MAYVILLE — The Chautauqua County Jail will soon be introducing a treatment center option for inmates who are drug or alcohol dependent, said Sheriff Joe Gerace.

“We will take those that are addicted and give them a specific targeted addiction program,” Gerace said.

The center will offer inmates an additional option to their sentence in an attempt to rid their drug dependency. Gerace said the housing addition is still in the planning stages of the implementation.

“It will be a chemical dependency unit where those that are identified to be drug dependent and willing participants will be given day-long treatment and programming,” Gerace said.

The treatment pod, if it comes to fruition, will be managed in smallest of the three housing pods in the jail. Right now, the housing pod is home to 26 inmates. Gerace said if there is success the jail will look at offering the program to one of the larger housing units.

Patricia Brinkman, director of mental hygiene in Chautauqua County, discussed the potential for a treatment pod in the county jail. She said the county has identified a model of programming that would be used and believes it would be successful in the county.

“It’s a model that has been used in other parts of the state and country,” Brinkman said. “It has a long track record of success and having low rates of relapse and recidivism back through the criminal justice system.”

The model consists of daily programs with the inmates who have been identified as dependent and volunteered and additional programming through outside organization in the evening. Brinkman said the model is complex and structured, but noted that the county would veer from that model if necessary for an individual inmate’s need. The treatment pod sessions would additional teach job readiness, parenting, conflict resolution, life skills and coping mechanism.

“We want to increase their (inmates) ability to cope with the stressors of life in ways other than using,” she said.

Brinkman said the biggest obstacle in the way of implementing the treatment pod is funding. She said the county is searching for grant opportunities to fund the program.

“The goal is to provide individual treatment while they are incarcerated. It’s to reduce recidivism and increase the number of individuals who are coming back to the community that are in recovery,” she said.

The model would also consist of two county employees on duty inside the treatment pod. Those employees would provide individual and group work tailored toward an inmate’s addiction. The treatment pod, through programming, would promote nutrition, wellness, exercise, and above all, sobriety.

The treatment pod and Chautauqua County will look to continue its rehabilitative work even after inmates are released. Gerace described the treatment pod’s work post-release as “a continuation of service after jail.”

The reason for the added attention to a drug-dependent inmate’s re-entry into regular life is the dangers to the newly clean civilian. Gerace said inmates returning to drug use increases the likelyhood of overdose after they’ve gone through a detox and are no longer addicted.

“Their likelyhood of overdose is higher,” Gerace said. “A lot of it has a lot to do with the amount of time they’ve spent in jail.”

Gerace said overdose rates are higher when drug-dependent inmates re-enter civilian life because their tolerance levels have decreased, but they often use drugs in the same quantity as they did before they were jailed.

A study titled “Return to Drug use and Overdose After Release From Prison: A Qualitative Study of Risk and Protective Factors” conceived by Ingrid Binswanger and Robert Booth from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and John Steiner from the Institute for Health Research in Colorado concluded accidental oversdose for former inmates is attributed to a decreased tolerance. The study was published by “Bio Med Central” in 2012.

The study conducted face-to-face interviews with 29 former inmates within two months of release from prison. More than half of the former inmates knew someone who overdosed upon release from prison and three of them had overdosed personally.

An extension of the treatment center will be admitting drug-dependent inmates to inpatient or outpatient care upon reentry to ensure drug use isn’t revisited upon initial release from jail.

Additionally, the treatment center program will be working to secure housing and employment opportunities for the returning inmates.

The county jail is working with the Chautauqua County Mental Health Department, Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services, BOCES and the Mental Health Association.

“We are ready,” Gerace said about implementing the program. “Now, it’s about getting all the other programs in place before the end of the year.”