Local officials and leaders are looking into making Owensboro-Daviess County a “Recovery Ready.” The state’s Recovery Ready Communities Certification Program is designed to provide a quality measure of a city or county’s substance use disorder (SUD) recovery efforts.
Dr. RonSonlyn Clark, chair of the Steering Committee for the Alliance for a Drug-Free Owensboro and Daviess County, said the local effort to be ready is second to none statewide.
“We are recovery ready. We are as good and better than any other community in this state when we talk about what we have here for recovery, treatment, and prevention. We are certainly on top of all of this,” Clark said.
The Recovery Ready Communities Certification Program offers local officials, recovery advocates, and concerned citizens the opportunity to evaluate their community’s current treatment programs and interventions in a framework that is designed to maximize positive public health outcomes among Kentuckians suffering from substance use disorder.
To be certified, a community must score 225 out of 300 possible points across dozens of categories for prevention, treatment, and recovery as outlined on this form.
Clark said being declared Recovery Ready will help all local organizations that treat substance use apply for grants to help combat the issue in the community.
Dr. Wanda Figueroa-Peralta, president/CEO of RiverValley Behavioral Health, said that she has begun completing the application and sees several areas of strength the community is already working on.
With the addition of Carlton Hall helping coordinate a strategic plan for the community, the committee feels they can close some gaps to qualify for the certification. Hall is being paid by a joint partnership between the City and County, with both parties agreeing to $25,000 each to help develop a strategic plan.
Owensboro Health Director of Community Engagement Debbie Zuerner, also a member of the Steering Committee, said: “The reason why we want a strategic plan for this community is exactly that to look at where these gaps are so if there is anything [we can know] are there pockets that can be strengthened.”
