An ongoing effort to help formerly incarcerated Morrow County residents reestablish their lives has taken a major step forward, with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction awarding Southeast Healthcare a grant to establish a new reentry coalition.
Southeast, a contracted provider with the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, will facilitate the coalition that holds its first meeting Jan. 23.
“Southeast has been overseeing a similar coalition in Delaware County since last summer,” said Cindy Ison, Southeast’s director of vocational services for Delaware and Morrow counties. “We wanted something specifically for the people of Morrow County,” Ison said.
Feedback from community stakeholders indicated that Morrow County faces vastly different challenges and unique needs as a rural county and would be most effectively served by a separate, locally-driven coalition rather than an expansion of the Delaware coalition.
The grant follows a request for proposal from ODRC that sought applications for grants to establish reentry coalitions in regions that currently do not have one. The new Morrow County effort will be facilitated by Southeast’s Forensic Case Manager Victoria Dimick, who will tap into existing partnerships to create a network of resources to help lower the chances of people returning to jail or prison and better integrate them into society.
“Services offered will include things like job assistance, grocery vouchers, rental assistance, and even pest control services for people returning to homes that may have been vacant,” Dimick said. Other expenses that can be funded with the ORDC grant include housing application fees, driver’s license fees, bus passes, clothing, haircuts, and personal hygiene items.
Stakeholders in the new Morrow County coalition include the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, the Morrow County Court of Commons Pleas, probation officers, state and local work force specialists, and the Morrow County Veterans Services Office. Other people and organizations interested in participating can attend the coalition’s first meeting on Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. It will be held in the Community Services Conference Room at 619 W. Marion St., Entrance B, in Mount Gilead.
The Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board is a publicly-supported alcohol, drug, and mental health (ADAMH) board that works to ensure high-quality, evidence-based behavioral health services are available locally to all residents in our communities.
The mission of the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board is to promote wellness and support recovery by planning, funding, and monitoring public mental health and addiction services for Delaware and Morrow Counties.
For more information on the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health & Recovery Services Board please visit www.dmmhrsb.org.
Submitted by the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health & Recovery Services Board.
