MARTINSBURG — The Berkeley County Recovery Resource Center will use a chunk of its three-year federal grant of nearly $300,000 to hire a recovery network coordinator, according to Berkeley County officials.
The grant money is part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act allocated by the U.S. Department of Justice last month.
The RRC network coordinator position has already been approved by the Berkeley County Council, according to Kevin Knowles, Community Recovery Service Coordinator of the RRC.
“That position will work closely with the Harm Reduction Program through the Berkeley County Health Department, and also to help run and coordinate all the other volunteer services that we have through the peer recovery support services we have at the RRC,” Knowles said.
The $298,458 earmarked for Berkeley County is part of $6.2 million awarded to West Virginia from the U.S. Department of Justice from legislation drafted by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in September. A large chunk of the funding will go toward responding to the Mountain State’s opioid crisis through programs authorized by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. Additional funding will enhance state law enforcement data collection and storage, support services for sexual assault victims, and improve outcomes for the inmate population.
Knowles said some of the grant money also will be earmarked to partially cover his annual salary and two other positions — epidemiologist and nurse director– at the State Health Department.
“It’s going to help fund about $60,000 over the three years for the health department for supplies and some partial raises for both of those health department positions,” Knowles said. “The rest will be for the full-time network coordinator position here.”
Knowles said Berkeley County actively pursued the federal grant money.
“We went after it,” Knowles said. “At the time, we had a grant writer on staff. He approached me, we applied for it, and we were fortunate enough to get it.”
According to Knowles, the center’s rapid growth in resident usage this year is in part the result of another grant awarded this year.
“Our RRC resident participation numbers have gone through the roof since June since we added one full time and one part-time peer recovery coach through another grant from Behavior Health and Health Facilities,” Knowles said. “That grant is a yearly grant that rolls over– hopefully — every year that allows us to have the two peer recovery coaches, and also pay for part of my salary.”
Knowles said the RRC mandate is to secure as much grant funding as possible. With exception of his own RRC coordinator’s salary, Knowles said the RRC operational costs are paid for by federal and state grants.
“We are doing everything we can on this end to make it where it’s the least amount of financial burden to the county and to the taxpayers,” Knowles said.