A new substance abuse treatment center has opened in Milford, Delaware to assist the residents of Kent and Sussex Counties.
Brandywine Counseling and Community Services, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that has served the state of Delaware for over 30 years by promoting education, prevention, early intervention and treatment. Recently, they opened their fourth substance abuse treatment center in the state, the first in Milford.
“We looked at several different factors around the state of Delaware to see where there might be some gaps and services,” said Lynn Fahey, the CEO of Brandywine Counseling.
For years, Brandywine opened up addiction treatment centers while also enabling mobile unit services. They have covered the entire state of Delaware with their addiction treatment facilities but the state has seen a greater urgency for addiction treatment services recently as drug-related deaths have climbed.
There were 308 people that died in the state from drug-related overdoses in 2016, up from 229 in 2015, according to the State of Delaware Division of Forensic Science 2016 Annual Report. It was revealed that 76 of the overdose deaths in 2016 were from Sussex County and 50 from Kent County. The data also indicated that 65 of the 126 overdose deaths were from people aged 40 and over.
The data highlighted the need for addiction treatment services in Sussex and Kent Counties.
The Delaware Health and Social Services Division of Public Health outlined an initiative in 2016 to address the opioid crisis throughout the state.
The state responded by spending $4.5 million on numerous resources including three 16-bed residential addiction treatment program units, doubling sober living beds and residential treatment beds for people between the ages of 18 and 25.
Fahey indicated that before the Milford addiction treatment center opened, her team had discussions with public health officials, the local substance abuse and mental health division and evaluations of crime reports regarding any drug-related charges. She stated that they decided to establish the center in Milford after examining the areas that had already been served by her organization and the areas that potentially needed addiction treatment services. Her team also studied whether there was a significant need in the city for addiction treatment services and discussed the matter with the mayor and the chief of police.
“(Milford) didn’t have a medically-assisted treatment program (MAT) with the extended array of services,” Fahey said.
In addition to MAT, the center offers evidence-based care, an opioid treatment program, an outpatient program and psychotherapy services.
While all Brandywine locations offer drug addiction treatment, there are some variances with this new substance abuse treatment center.
“Only one other site of ours has a drop-in center,” Fahey said. “This is only the second site that has the drop-in center as an integrated array of services. So, other than that, we provide case management services in all of our programs.”
The new substance abuse treatment center allows up to 50 people to drop in a day. Patients who drop in can use the laundry and shower services as well as computers.
She stated that all of the addiction treatment facilities feature level one treatment, some type of MAT as well as intensive outpatient treatment programs.
Fahey highlighted that when patients enters their substance abuse treatment center, they immediately get assessed and are medicated or given referrals for future appointments.
“Once we establish that they are where they can best be served, they go through the whole intake process,” she said.
