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 Delinquencyโ€™s Vivitrol Program.ย 

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

โ€œWhat weโ€™re understanding is that although our data indicates that weโ€™re not using Vivitrol a lot, you may recall, 2019, we had a robust program going,โ€ said Litz. โ€œSince then and the interjection of the Medical Assisted Treatment (MAT) program, a lot of individualsโ€™ preference is not to go with Vivitrol, theyโ€™re choosing to use some of the drugs that are offered through the MAT program.โ€   

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.

โ€œAs you know from prison board (meetings), it (MAT) has been expanding at great numbers,โ€ added Litz.

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

โ€œWhat weโ€™re seeing, in comparison to the community numbers, is more of a driving force, more individuals wanting to be on medical assistance,โ€ said Litz. โ€œWe used to think that it (re-entry into society) is a process, but what weโ€™re learning is that it is a journey. So in an addictive person’s recovery journey, what theyโ€™re liking to have, or prefer to have, is to get ahead of what faces them on the street.โ€

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

โ€œWhat weโ€™re hoping is to be a participant in having those overdose numbers continue to decrease,โ€ she said. โ€œI 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.โ€

Litz noted that Vivitrol is an opioid and an alcohol blocker that prohibits the feeling of getting high for the user, adding that while sheโ€™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 โ€œhave a plethora of programs to continue treatmentโ€ 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.ย ย ย 

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 countyโ€™s CAP office. The drivers who use their own vehicles receive a mileage reimbursement, and most of the contracts were increased by $5 per visit.ย 

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.ย 

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

โ€œA lot of the doctorsโ€™ offices in Lebanon County do not have the specialty thatโ€™s needed, so we have to go to Philly or Pittsburgh or there are doctorโ€™s offices that are no longer accepting Medicaid insurance,โ€ said Reddinger. โ€œWe are to transport them to the closest doctorโ€™s office, but thatโ€™s not always something we can do. We donโ€™t go to Pittsburgh frequently, but we do go to Philadelphia two to three times a week.โ€

Reddinger added that most of the Philadelphia trips are to the Childrenโ€™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 driverโ€™s record and are subject to criminal background and child abuse clearance checks.

โ€œThey are responsible to get that before they come in for an interview, so if there is an issue we wonโ€™t bring them on,โ€ 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 treasurerโ€™s report and personnel transactions.

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James Mentzer is a freelance writer and lifelong resident of Pennsylvania. He has spent his professional career writing about agriculture, economic development, manufacturing and the energy and real estate industries, and is the county reporter and a features writer for LebTown. James is an outdoor...

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