Carbon County inmates will be funding a drug and alcohol program that will begin in the county prison in January.

The county prison board voted last week to recommend the commissioners use $54,000 of the inmate commissary fund to pay for the agreement with Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission for counseling services inside the prison. The commissioners approved the agreement for the services.Robert Crampsie, county controller and prison board member, said that after looking at the fund, he feels the money for the agreement should come from the commissary.He said by the end of the year, there should be $143,000 in the commissary fund.In October, Crampsie approached the prison board with this idea.The prison commissary is operated by Oasis Inmate Commissary Services and Carbon County receives 40 percent of all sales.In the past, the fund was used by the prison to purchase necessary items such as mattresses, jumpsuits and hygiene supplies for inmates.Crampsie said this treatment program will help benefit the inmates, the county and the taxpayers."I was very in favor of the treatment program, but the problem was always money," he said, adding that it wouldn't be fair to keep asking the taxpayers, who already fund a $4.2 million annual prison budget to fund more programs at the prison.Crampsie noted that the treatment program would hopefully help cut down on repeat offenders, meaning that it would help reduce the inmate population, which currently hovers between 180 and just over 200, and cut the costs at the prison.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that once the program begins at the prison, it will give inmates a head start in treatment for when they are released.The contract between the two entities calls for in-house treatment by a drug and alcohol counselor, which would be an extension of the outpatient treatment service programs at the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission.Inmates who meet the criteria for outpatient services based on referrals through the adult probation office would see a treatment specialist in both individual and group sessions during their incarceration to help get them on the right path.Upon release, they would then be able to transfer their services to the commission's Lehighton office.The second program would piggyback off the in-house treatment.The Medical Assistance Pilot Program aims to help get people qualified for medical assistance into rehab immediately following their incarceration.An agreement is in place with the local Department of Public Welfare office, which would expedite the medical assistance approval process to correspond with the person's release date.The person would be covered under medical assistance upon release from prison and be transferred directly to the rehab facility for treatment.Commissioner William O'Gurek said the two programs would help inmates get treatment while incarcerated, and then help them transition to continue treatment following their release."It's a proactive approach to try and help these people solve their drug problems and get them the assistance they need," he said.Nothstein said that this is one of many things the county has been working on to combat the growing drug epidemic in the county.Recently, District Attorney Jean Engler announced the county drug tip line, and the commissioners had hired a part-time officer in the district attorney's office to handle drug-related cases.Crampsie agreed with the commissioners, saying that the two programs are crucial pieces of the puzzle in the fight against drugs."Everyone knows we have a severe problem with drugs in Carbon County," Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said."If we help 20 or 30 percent of the inmates get back into the workforce and live a productive (and drug-free) life, then it is worth it. It's our job to try and provide help to these people, and that is what we are doing."Under the terms of the agreement, the programs will begin in 2015.