Cumberland River Behavioral Health getting $250,000 grant

Gov. Andy Beshear announced the award of $4.9 million in grant funding Monday to help address Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) by offering comprehensive treatment and recovery services to pregnant and parenting women, including funding that will go to a facility located in Corbin.

The funding has been distributed to 17 non-profit organizations, such as Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) and Neonatal Abstinence Treatment Programs, through the Senate Bill 192 Treatment Grant administered by the Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP).

Included in the funding is $250,000 to Cumberland River Behavioral Health, which is a local community mental health center that serves Bell, Clay, Harlan, Jackson, Knox, Laurel, Rockcastle and Whitley counties.

The Cumberland River funding will go to Independence House, which is a treatment and recovery center for pregnant and postpartum women.

“Our job as public servants is to work with partners throughout Kentucky to provide help, hope and a hand to lead individuals out of the darkness of addiction and into the light of acceptance, opportunity and community,” said Beshear. “This grant funding is another resource in addressing this public health crisis and allowing us to take another step closer to creating a better Kentucky for future generations, starting with our newborn babies.”

NAS is a complex set of symptoms consistent with opiate withdrawal that is seen in babies exposed to opiates before birth. According to a report published by the Kentucky Department for Public Health, the number of infants born in Kentucky reported as having NAS has climbed steadily since 2001, when 67 cases of NAS were reported statewide. In 2019, there were 1,102 cases of babies with signs and symptoms of NAS born in the state; this accounts for 20.9 of every 1,000 live births among Kentucky residents.

ODCP and the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) collaborated to administer grant funding to licensed non-profit organizations. Grants support the development or expansion of comprehensive, evidence-based residential treatment services and/or outpatient treatment and recovery support for pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are transitioning from residential services.

This year’s Senate Bill 192 treatment grant funding was primarily provided for treatment and case management services, trauma-focused treatment for the parenting mother, attachment therapy for the mother and infant and ongoing parenting training and support through the infant’s first year of life.