Community recovery and crisis center proposed in Moscow
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare proposed a community recovery and crisis center for Moscow and several other locations throughout the state.
The proposal was presented to the League of Women Voters Wednesday by Darrell Keim, community resource development specialist for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW).
The center would not be based on the traditional model of recovery, rather it would be based on the model laid out by the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR), Keim said. The IDHW received a grant to study CCAR to see if it could be adopted for use in Idaho.
“What they were doing was people in recovery helping people in recovery,” Keim said. “It is really that simple.”
CCAR is a volunteer system with a small administrative staff where people who are in long-term recovery can help people who have not been in recovery for as long, Keim said. The people in long-term recovery design social programs or events, like hiking trips or classes to improve job-searching skills.
“The key is it would create a positive community environment,” Keim said. “If you want to start new habits, you go to new places and you do new things — that is what CCAR does.”
The new center would be visible and public, Keim said. It would be a place for people to go to once they decide they want to start recovering from their substance abuse habit or get help with a mental disorder.
“The recovery center idea is that it is out there in the public,” Keim said.
The center would work to prevent people from going to jail, Keim said, which would save the community and state money.
“I love that, I wish I could get such good returns,” Keim said. “So it is the economical thing to do.”
Funds to support the center are available through the Millennium Fund, which was established as a state endowment using money from settlements from lawsuits between tobacco companies and Idaho, Keim said. The money would be used to set up the center, which would partner with the Sojourners Alliance in Moscow to get started. The center may also be located at Sojourners Alliance in the beginning stages until the center has a solid volunteer base and a steady stream of donations.
The Millennium Fund Committee approved the request and forwarded it to Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee in the Idaho Legislature.
According to Kein, it’s still too early in the process to determine when the center would open or if the funds would be available to open the center. However, he said the center is likely to eventually open because the community is talking about substance abuse and mental health issues.
Graham Perednia can be reached at [email protected]