Carbon County is utilizing another tool to help people who are jailed for drug and alcohol related offenses.

On Tuesday, county officials from various departments met at Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission in Lehighton to learn about the new medication assisted treatment program that began at the county correctional facility in January.

Jamie Drake, executive director for CMPDA, said that the program will help some of those inmates by providing another option in their road to recovery from addiction.

Court officials, members of local hospitals, medication companies, county officials and prison staff were among the attendees.

“We’re here to talk about the medication assisted treatment program that we started in the jail in January,” Drake said. “There is going to be a lot more people who are coming out in to the community that are going to be on medications for opiate use disorder as well as alcohol use disorder. We wanted to give everybody a little update to really understand the best practices around using these medications.

“It’s important that all the stakeholders that are involved in the community that work with these folks really understand what this is and how important this is to people’s recovery.”

Kevin Schroeder, regional business specialist at Braeburn, which manufactures an injectable medicine that is used in treatment, and Shannon Wisniewski, an outpatient supervisor at CMPDA who is leading the MAT programs in both Pike and Monroe counties, led the discussion.

Schroeder, who explained that his main role is working within the criminal justice system across the state, said that using medication assisted treatments for individuals facing opiate or alcohol use disorders can greatly improve their chances of staying in recovery following release from incarceration.

In Carbon County, 33 inmates have opted into the MAT program to date.

Four medications can be prescribed to qualifying individuals, which include both daily oral options or weekly or monthly injections.

“When you talk about this high risk population that is in this setting ... a lot of the behaviors that happen and the changes that happen in the brain make them to the point that they need to survive, if you will, and utilize substances in order to satisfy the urges and the cravings in the brain because of these chemical changes that happen,” Schroeder said. “Medications are an important part within that population, just to ensure that they have medications on board to satisfy cravings and urges and help them on their path to recovery.” He pointed out that it takes work by the individual and not everyone wants to commit to recovery, and therefore, not be a good candidate for the MAT program.

“They have to want to make these changes,” Schroeder said, adding that due to the lack of continued drug use, a person is approximately 40 times more likely to overdose once released because their system has changed and because of the various drugs being laced with other drugs that they are buying off the street.

Wisniewski said that what is right for the person is determined by an intake evaluation, the person’s medical history and whether they are willing and able to a medication daily or rather weekly and the prison doctor. Inmates are screened when they come into the prison and depending on their history, may be referred to CMPDA for further discussions or they can request to speak with a member of staff about this program.

She said that over in Pike County, which has utilized the MAT program in the correctional facility for approximately three years, the model includes three forms of treatment, including medication options of methadone, suboxone and Vivitrol, as well as medical oversight by Prime Care in the facility and counseling through one or more providers that then begins setting up the path for outpatient treatment following incarceration.

The group outlined how the program can partner with various entities to create a network for the participants.

Wisniewski pointed out that one good thing with the MAT program in all three counties is that they all utilize the same medical provider, which means that the information is the same across the three correctional facilities.

Layne Turner, who works in the division of addiction medicine at St. Luke’s, said that the health network has MAT protocols in all 13 of its campuses and this added tool in the correctional facility adds another level of care.