Ohio prisons and community-based correctional facilities have been awarded over $5 million to help provide addiction medications and support. This is the fourth round of grants awarded by the Attorney General’s office, which aims to reduce opioid and other substance addiction issues among inmates.
Where does the funding come from?
Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost has pledged to award up to $60 million to the state’s correctional facilities for addiction treatments. These funds have been given to the state from opioid settlement money. This comes from various pharmaceutical companies that were ordered to pay back to the nation for distributing and selling opioids that contributed to the opioid crisis. [1][2]
So far, Attorney General Yost has awarded $10.9 million to 49 Ohio jails and 13 community-based correctional facilities and plans to continue distributing grants in the upcoming years. [1][3]
Who has received the funds?
Beginning in March 2025 with the first round of grants, four rounds have since been awarded for the Opioid Remediation Grant Program. Yost’s office has recently given the fourth round of funds, which were distributed among 17 of the state’s jails and 13 community-based correctional facilities (residential programs for offenders with mental health or substance use disorders). [1][3]
This fourth round of grants totaled $5.3 million and included almost $1 million awarded to five central Ohio facilities: [1]
- Fairfield County jail: $244,364
- Knox County jail: $104,675
- Licking County jail: $200,000
- The Franklin County Community-Based Correctional Facility: $246,227
- West Central Community Correctional Facility in Union County: $199,248
Why are these grants so important?
Facilities can apply to the grant program for funds to help provide medications and service coordinators to help inmates with opioid and other substance use disorders, supporting the withdrawal and detox process. [1][3]
Reports show:
- Around 65% of people in jail in America are dependent on substances. [4]
- Between 2001 and 2018, the number of deaths in state prisons from drug or alcohol intoxication rose by over 600%, from 35 to 249. [5]
- Medication-assisted treatment and therapeutic support can significantly improve recovery outcomes. [6]
Ohio correctional facilities can apply for funding from the grant program here.
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