Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis said those who say the county hasn’t done enough to support the recovery community needs to think again.
Davis pointed out that most recovery programs are funded by tax dollars to start with, but he says the county has gone far beyond just providing tax money.
He said the county supported turning the former juvenile detention center into a recovery facility for a lease cost of just $1 per year. With the county in financial crisis, they were forced to close the new juvenile detention facility. “At the time, rehab was only in its infancy. It was a shadow of what it is now. A lot of individuals have received help in that facility.”
He said it was a good choice for the building since otherwise it would have sat empty.
Davis said he thought the biggest contribution was the Hughes Recovery Center in Franklin Furnace. “I remember in 2017 when Ed Hughes came up with the great idea to do vocational training at the former STAR facility.”
When STAR moved to a larger facility, the county was left with the building, which could only be used for a correction or a rehabilitation facility. “That really limited what could be done. Ed came to us with the idea to do intense rehab and vocational training.”
Davis said offering the opportunity for troubled people to get a job and make a living was a huge step in turning them into productive members of society. “The investment in our recovery community is huge. These are things we can do without spending General Fund dollars.”
Additionally, he pointed out that recovery specialists are now allowed access to jail inmates. This was not the case under the leadership of the former Sheriff. Davis thanked current Sherriff Thouroughman for understanding the importance of those intercessory services.
Davis said, “It’s one thing to say, ‘we need to do more,’ but you have to stay in your lane. I don’t know of any request we’ve received from the recovery community for funding. But there have been requests to help with facilities. A lot of people don’t know about what we’ve been doing for many years.”
Davis also said that both Common Pleas Court and Juvenile Court have done a lot of good work to help people get clean and stay clean. “This is the battle we wage, and we wage it with a lot of people in the recovery county and their families.”
