LOGAN COUNTY, Ark. — The Logan County Detention Center and local nonprofit The Guidance Center are working together to help the community with a recovery program for inmates struggling with addiction.
“We see the same people over and over again in our jail, and we don’t want to see the same people over and over again in jail,” said Sheriff Jason Massey.
Massey says part of the problem is addiction.
“We recognize that we have a substance abuse issue in this county, as we do across the state and across our country,” Massey said.
The detention center began working with The Guidance Center in January 2022.
“We had talked to them about trying to find a way to bring programs into our jail for inmates to have, so they can help better themselves,” Massey said.
As part of the program, The Guidance Center supplies Peer Recovery Support Specialists who can relate to the inmates on a personal level.
“We know what they’re feeling. We know that hopelessness and the despair and also what it’s like to be in the grip of addiction,” said Peer Recovery Support Specialist Cindy Moore.
Moore says with 16 years in recovery herself, she sees the importance of the program.
“Once you have that desire to change, there are people in your community who will help you,” Moore said.
Now, the program has received funding from the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership that allows them to take it to the next level.
Some new plans for the program include hiring a full-time Peer Recovery Support Specialist and focusing on continued care after inmates are released from jail.
“When you have a felony, and you have a history, to try to find a job or to try to find a place to live, it’s very challenging,” Moore said. “And they will have someone who can help them that’s going to walk with them as they go through this.”
The Sheriff’s Office and The Guidance Center say this program will help the whole community.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, but I think over the long term it will make a significant impact on Logan County,” Moore said.
The Guidance Center tells us they’ve already seen 21 lives changed with this program, and the new funding will provide them with more resources to help.
For more information on The Guidance Center and how to get help to work towards recovery, visit their website.
