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Southeast Ohio counties were awarded $1 million in ARC grants to support a recovery ecosystem
By: Amanda Pirani
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Several counties in southeast Ohio will now be able to expand programs that help people in recovery earn jobs, thanks to $1 million in federal grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Those recovery-to-workforce programs will help support local economies in Pike, Scioto, Brown and Adams counties — some of the counties most impacted by the Opioid crisis in southeast Ohio. The funding will also help more people enter the health care workforce to support recovery services.
The Community Action Committee (CAC) of Pike County and Shawnee State University will receive $500,000 each from the ARC grants as part of its Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) award program.
The program aims to address economic challenges in Appalachian communities impacted by substance use disorder. Ohio received four other INSPIRE awards for efforts in other regions of the state.
Transitions Program builds community resilience
Part of the ARC grants will help expand the recovery Transitions Program led by the CAC of Pike County and OhioMeansJobs. The program includes case management services, recruitment and career training, as well as relationship building with recovery-friendly businesses.
Carolyn Fyffe, assistant director of workforce and business development with the CAC, said a critical component of the transitions program is personalized case management, because setting someone up for long-term employment often requires more than a job placement alone.
“If you’re not looking at everything else that’s going on in their lives and pulling from all those other resources we have in other agencies and partners, you could be setting them up for failure,” Fyffe said.
Lisa Pfeifer, the workforce and business development director at the CAC, recalled a man who recently came in seeking a job placement, but later admitted he was living without electricity.
“He needed some other additional … assistance and we started grabbing these partners to come in, to help him build stability before he takes a job,” she said. “There are certain things that you have to put in place in order to be successful in getting employment.”
Kelly Kupcak, vice president of innovation and strategic initiatives with the CAC, said people in the area face uniquely rural challenges when seeking employment after recovery, like access to childcare, treatment facilities and transportation.
To help people overcome those barriers, the CAC coordinates everything from housing programs to a federally qualified health center.
“We want to be able to support you in whatever way you need it and address all those pieces so that people are really successful,” Kupcak said. “We look at it not as a handout, but a hand up so people are really empowered to self-sufficiency and economic stability.”
Over the course of 2022 and 2023, the Transitions Program served over 425 people and placed 307 in jobs. Pfeifer said 70% of those placed remained in their roles a year later.
She hopes the grant will allow the CAC to serve a greater number of people and allow for more business partnerships.
Job training in fields like manufacturing, commercial truck driving and behavioral health also help address local workforce needs, which Kupcak said ultimately benefits the wider community and local economy.
“(We) have worked really hard over the years to cultivate strong relationships, help those business partners understand the unique challenges and really make it not just successful for the job seekers, but also their families and employers,” she said. “Then that helps lift up our whole community.”
Shawnee State University will expand educational opportunities in behavioral health
In Portsmouth, INSPIRE grant funding will expand programs at Shawnee State University, creating more opportunities to enter the behavioral health field.
Behavioral health care has seen a statewide shortage of workers as demand for treatment has spiked since the COVID-19 pandemic. Scioto, Brown, Pike and Adams counties are all designated as mental health professional shortage areas.
Christine Raber, dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Shawnee State, said the new funds will help support recovery on two fronts.
“There can be help for folks in recovery who are seeking to enter the workforce … and we also are providing trained professionals that are supporting people in recovery on their journey,” Raber said.
Raber said the University will expand its behavioral health programs and create a new community health worker credential program.
“That will be a totally new program that we do not currently offer, and currently there aren’t any opportunities for that,” Raber said. “Everything that could be obtained for folks is more than two hours away from our particular region, in Portsmouth.”
Community health workers earn a short-term, state-specific certification that allows them to serve in a variety of public health roles in clinics, nursing facilities, hospitals and nonprofits.
The university will also utilize INSPIRE funds to work with Star Community Justice Center to provide short-term educational opportunities and develop graduate certificate programs to strengthen the skills of those already in the health care workforce.
“I think we can both support people … entering the behavioral health workforce, as well as help people in recovery find a very meaningful, rewarding pathway to entering that workforce, if they so choose,” Raber said.
Amanda Pirani is WOUB’s Report for America Journalist covering Economic Livelyhood. For more information about Report for America, you can click here.