PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — State health officials say they want to learn more about the issues of drugs, mental illness and homelessness in Wood County heading into the new year.
A meeting was held with Wood County stakeholders last month where the state Department of Health and Human Resources heard about the challenges county leaders face and what can be done to boost recovery efforts.
DHHR Deputy Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Christina Mullins told MetroNews Wood County is situated on the border of Ohio which is contributing to the flow of drugs into West Virginia and people from out-of-state who need services.
“The fact that they are near an interstate, and they do border Ohio, but they also have some differences in composition around the number of residential treatment beds for substance use disorder,” she said. “Their treatment centers tend to be larger so when people are discharged, they place a greater need on the community resources there in Wood County.”
Mullins said some of those challenges are unique to Wood County.
“What we’re seeing in that community is that child protective services referrals, homelessness and mental hygiene commitments are higher than we would expect based on just their demographic data,” she said.
Wood County has to reevaluate how to use its resources, Mullins said.
“While Wood County has a lot of resources, it lacks some of the community resources that are more widely available in other areas of the state,” she said.
During last month’s meeting, there was a discussion of the St. Joseph Recovery Center and initiatives there to address substance use disorder and mental health challenges. SJRC offers specialized programs for adults and veterans including medication-assisted treatment, medical and psychiatric evaluation, medication management, professional therapy, supportive counseling, and peer recovery support services.
Mullins said the DHHR plans to hold more meetings in the future.
“We do expect to do some follow up meetings in Wood County. We’re still working on defining the problem for Wood County and we anticipate continuing that work into 2024.”