Baker-Polito administration awards funding to expand residential treatment for women
Boston — At a cabinet meeting held Friday, March 3, at the UMASS Lowell, the Baker-Polito administration announced it will award contracts to programs in Lowell, Salisbury, and Pittsfield to support and expand residential substance use disorder treatment for women in Massachusetts.
Since coming into office in 2015, the Baker-Polito Administration has increased spending on addiction services by 50 percent, from $120 million to $180 million, and has added more than 500 substance use treatment beds to the system. Investing in a continuum of treatment services in the Commonwealth was a recommendation of the Governor’s Opioid Working Group, and the announcement adds to the administration’s commitment to expand treatment options throughout Massachusetts. The contracts will fund 60 long-term, residential treatment slots that, when operational, will provide services to approximately 240 women each year.
The $1.75 million in annual funding awarded to the programs was based on a competitive procurement and will support expansion of one existing and two new programs. The funded programs are:
- Megan’s House, Lowell – Funding will support 28 beds in the existing program serving the needs of young women ages 18-25. The new funding will ensure greater access to treatment for women without health insurance.
- John Ashford Link House/Seacoast Recovery Home for Women, Salisbury – Funding will create a new, 15-bed program with a focus on serving the needs of women on the North Shore, some of whom are criminal justice-involved.
- The Brien Center/Seymour House, Pittsfield – Funding will create a new, 17-bed program serving the needs of pregnant and post-partum women.
Work on each of the programs will begin immediately and all are expected to be fully operational by the end of June.
