WORTHINGTON — Mission Turnabout, a Granite Falls-based dependancy therapy middle, was awarded a $40,000 grant by the Worthington Regional Well being Care Basis on Dec. 30. The grant will go towards having cellular assessor Kelsey Kitzberger spend a minimal of eight days a month in Nobles County assessing the therapy wants and necessities of Nobles County inmates battling substance abuse.
Medical Director TD Hostikka stated he labored with the Worthington Regional Well being Care Basis to get the grant after current state laws has made it tougher for rural Minnesota inmates to get therapy.
“Again in 2022, state laws eliminated what was known as Rule 25 and made a program known as Open Entry. Open Entry works very well for the seven metro counties, however it doesn’t meet the wants of our rural counties in any respect,” Hostikka shared. “We had been seeing right here at Mission Turnabout an enormous lower within the variety of folks coming from Nobles County and these different rural areas as a result of they only merely weren’t getting assessed. A few of these persons are dying as a result of they are not getting any therapy or the assessments that they wanted. You’ll have overdose deaths in rural counties due to these issues. I simply got here up with this concept, ‘We have to get assessors into these small areas so folks can get companies.’”
Hostikka stated that in simply the final 4 weeks, 9 Nobles County inmates have been assessed, with three of them now in in-patient companies with Mission Turnabout.
He stated the grant is a long-needed lifeline not just for inmates scuffling with substance abuse, however for rural communities at massive. The funding might result in the growth of the middle’s outreach within the Nobles County space.
“Firstly, let’s speak concerning the communities and the purchasers. It signifies that they’re getting a faster response to the companies that they want,” Hostikka stated. “They might have much less incarceration time or much less ready round attempting to get companies and doubtlessly dying due to their dependancy. What it means to Mission Turnabout is we’re offering a service to the communities, to our companions, our neighbors, our collaborations and lowering the limitations and growing the entry to companies. It is helped us with over half of the price to this point.”
Samuel Martin turned a reporter for The Globe in September 2023. He has a bachelor’s diploma in media research from the College of Sioux Falls.
