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Wayne County will spend over $600,000 to open a facility in Honesdale to help women get sober and improve their chances of returning to work.
County commissioners on Aug. 22 approved funding to renovate the existing county-owned building at 650 1/2 Park Street in Honesdale. The building was most recently occupied by the Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance Career Services Division, which moved to the Jadwin Building at 107 8th Street. The building, located on Route 6, is near the Park Street Complex.
The motion called for a settlement of at least $601,065 for the opioid case, as well as guaranteed future payments for renovations.
“This is a significant step forward for return to work services. This is a big part of it, so we are delighted about it,” said Commissioner Jocelyn Cramer, who chaired the meeting.
The county is negotiating with a service provider, but the provider has not yet been selected, county clerk Andrew Seder said.
“Our drug and alcohol abuse staff coordinates services, but they don’t provide them. And we really lack facilities for women living throughout northeast Pennsylvania, not just Wayne County,” Cramer said. “So having a handful of beds there would be a huge deal. Because we don’t need 30, 40 or 50. We need six, seven or eight.”
According to Cramer, since it is a district-owned facility, the administrative burden on the provider is reduced and the provider can accept more underinsured or uninsured people and improve its range of services.
Vicky Botjer, county finance director, explained in an email that another program, Little Creek in the Hamlin area, currently operates Shane’s House for men, but there is no such program for women in Wayne County.
The current plan calls for accommodation for up to eleven women, Botjer said, but stressed that the district is still in the planning phase.
“It’s a residential community that offers support from a provider,” Botjer said. “But really it’s about them learning to live sober in the community again.” She said the county plans to make sure the abstainer housing program is linked to the Workforce Alliance, the county Drug and Alcohol Commission, which offers treatment programs, and the county Transportation Department.
This money does not come from local county tax dollars, but is part of an allocation to Wayne County as part of a nationwide state and county class action lawsuit against drug manufacturers and pharmacy chains that, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, “caused and fueled the crisis of abuse of highly addictive prescription opioid painkillers.”
Wayne County received $2.2 million, payable over 18 years; this is now referred to as Wave 1. In July, commissioners announced the receipt of Wave 2, which will give Wayne County at least $770,000 to be used to combat addiction to controlled substances.
More: Wayne County receives $770,000 in opioid settlement money in addition to the original $2.2 million
Some of the funds from the first round of settlements have already been used in Wayne County to fund a medical assistance treatment program at the county correctional facility.
The first wave of funds must be issued by the end of 2025, said Seder.
Botjer explained that the resolution passed by the commissioners allows her to submit this in support of providing opioid settlement funds while “we continue to work through the process.”
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent and its predecessor publications since 1994. He can be reached at [email protected] or 570-253-3055, ext. 1588.
