By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear presented Transitions Inc. a ceremonial check for $450,000 Wednesday, at the Women’s Residential Addiction Program (WRAP) House in Covington.
“Folks, this isn’t just any money, this is money from the settlement with Purdue Pharma; this is OxyContin money,” Beshear said. “This is the right place for that to go. Using OxyContin money to fund recovery, especially for pregnant mothers and mothers, is more than doing good, it’s providing a little bit of justice.”
In December, the State of Kentucky settled a lawsuit with Purdue Pharma for $24 million, The suit alleged Purdue Pharma misled the public about the addictive properties of the drug.
In the recently passed state budget, lawmakers appropriated funds recovered from the Purdue Pharma case to 15 different recovery facilities and drug treatment centers recommended by Attorney General Beshear.
The Transitions funds, which will be distributed over the next 26 months, will help support women in WRAP House who are suffering from alcohol and substance abuse.
“Transitions has been saving lives for 47 years. I am honored to support what they are doing to improve the lives of women and their families throughout Northern Kentucky,” Beshear said.
Beshear praised State Rep. Dennis Keene for fighting to get and keep the money for Transitions in the budget.
“This money wasn’t always intended to come here and it was not in every version of the budget bill,” Dennis Keene fought for it.”
Keene said that early in Beshear’s candidacy for Attorney General, the two discussed the need for additional funding in Northern Kentucky to fight the heroin epidemic. He said Beshear has “looked under every rock,” to get more funding for the region.
“Helping women and families access treatment for drug and alcohol addiction is one of the most important things we can do to stop substance abuse in Northern Kentucky,” Keene said. “Thanks to Attorney General Beshear, we will have valuable resources to help families and save lives in our community.”
Transitions Executive Director Jim Beiting said the money is a “huge deal.”
“We are extremely grateful and humbled to the Commonwealth of Kentucky and everybody who has worked on this budget,” Beiting said. “For Transitions, specifically the WRAP house, this will go a long way just to keep the doors open; funding is very tight. We have a significant waiting list so we are always looking for funding to provide the services that these women deserve to have.”
Transitions is a residential chemical dependency treatment program that serves men and women in the Northern Kentucky area.
There are currently 44 women in WRAP House, including six who are pregnant. At any given time there can be as many as 10 to 12 pregnant women in WRAP House.
“We do a variety of different things, but they are here primarily for drug and alcohol treatment.” Beiting said.
Beshear said Transitions is changing the future, one person at a time.
“Wrap House is one of the few recovery programs that allows children to come and stay with their parents, up to age 12, with mothers, whole they are in treatment, to keep those families together,” Beshear said.
He also praised the members of NKY Hates Heroin who were on hand for the presentation. He said their relentless efforts to get SB 192, commonly referred to as the Heroin Bill, passed last year was a critical step in the fight against addiction.
Holly Specht, whose family started NKY Hates Heroin after her son Nicholas died from an overdose in 2013 at the age of 30, said the stigma associated with heroin abuse is hard to overcome.
“When our family first started this, one of the very first things we wanted to remove was the stigma,” Specht said. “I remember the pain and the shame that our son went through and honestly, what my husband and I went through as his parents. If you can’t get past that how are you going to be able to reach out and find the help that you need.”
Beshear has presented nearly $7.5 million in funding to 14 recovery facilities and drug treatment centers across the state, including Transitions and Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky in Covington.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com