County leaders award funds for addicted moms | News, Sports, Jobs

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County is making more use of opiate settlement money to serve those suffering from substance abuse disorders.

On Thursday, county commissioners approved $120,000 in opiate funding to the Western Reserve Port Authority. The Port Authority owns and oversees the Campus of Care in Austintown, where the money will be used on a building that serves expectant mothers struggling with addiction.

Jennifer Pangio, director of the county’s Office of Management and Budget, said the money will specifically be directed to Building 12, which will house Meridian Healthcare’s Maternal Opiate Medical Support (MOMS) program.

Pangio said the Port Authority has spent several years replacing the roofs on the campus’s buildings, largely through American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“Because Building 12 is the last building that needs to be done and ARPA dollars are exhausted, we can use the opiate dollars to finish it because it’s allowable for the abatement strategy,” she said.

The funding is disbursed to Ohio’s 88 counties from the OneOhio Foundation, which manages the state’s share of the multi-billion-dollar federal settlement with pharmaceutical companies over the opiate epidemic.

Commissioners work with the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board to ensure that the money they allocate goes along with the OneOhio abatement strategies and then has the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office review the resolution as well.

Duane Piccirilli, executive director of the MHRB is the board director for OneOhio Region 7, which comprises Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Larry Moliterno, CEO of Meridian Healthcare and a Boardman Township trustee, said the MOMS program is moving to the Campus of Care to provide better space for staff and patients. He said about 70 women went through the program last year.

“We’re really excited we’re moving to the Campus of Care,” he said. “We’ll be able to take good care of the mothers, and care for the babies, prenatal through postnatal. There will be more space for the programming and activities for moms and kids. It gives us better use of the space.”

He said that in addition to substance abuse issues, the patients sometimes have other mental health disorders that can also be treated there.

Moliterno said the aging roof led to water damage in the kitchen area of that building, so the money will fund not only a new roof but internal repairs as well. He said he hopes the building will be ready for them to move in around the first of the year.