STEUBENVILLE — Commissioners celebrated the tangible gains recorded from a substance abuse program launched just two years ago in the Jefferson County jail.

Organizers said Thursday the program — funded entirely by proceeds from Ohio’s opioid settlement — has drastically reduced the county’s recidivism rate, saving more than $800,000 in inmate housing costs.

“We started this three years ago wanting to just get folks out of being incarcerated and into treatment, if that was the issue,” Steubenville Municipal Court Chief Probation Officer Tracy Walenciej said. “So now that we’re moving on to Year Three, you can see from the data…we’ve had a 78.9 percent successful completion rate by folks we took out of the jail and placed into a treatment facility. We based that (statistic) on the fact that they had completed at least the first residential part of programming, but a number of them have continued on…and actually remained in treatment.”

Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr. said the program targets “chronic recidivists.” He said many “had been cycling through jail since the 1980s-1990s, representing 35-40 years of criminal justice involvement. He said the majority of them “returned to jail at least twice a year before enrollment,” noting one of them “was booked 23 times since 1985, another 19 times since 1998” and a third, “14 times since 2006.” Several had been booked 12-15 times over the past decade.

Individuals with substance use disorders are assessed and placed into residential treatment through a network of more than 50 providers in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, organizers said. Staff assess inmates and gather information from courts, probation departments, current treatment providers and family members to match them with appropriate services.

To date, of the 95 offenders who were assessed, all but one were placed in treatment. Of the 94 who entered treatment, 71 completed it.

Walenciej said offenders who’ve successfully completed treatment now have jobs and are supporting themselves.

“In the very beginning, we started this with a gentleman who just yelled at us through the bars, ‘Get me out of here. I need help’,” Walenciej said. “He was the very first person that we placed (into treatment)–that was in 2023 and he is still sober to this day. He is gainfully employed and stops by every week to tell me how (it’s going). He started his own business and he’s doing very well, and he’s not even one of the three.”

That, in itself, is a victory, Commissioner Tony Morelli said.

“This is good in so many ways for our community,” said Morelli, who represents Jefferson County in the OneOhio opioid settlement program. “The numbers are fantastic, but the biggest impact, to me, is that we are saving lives. I’ve watched many friends bury their children due to addiction issues. And it’s a fact, people who get sober from alcohol or drugs are some of the best workers available. I experienced that many times while was in the private world.”

Holt agreed, saying the program is already changing the community.

“They’ve become productive members of our community,” Holt said. “One of the great things about a program like this is really the ‘carrot and the stick’. You’ve got somebody coordinating with law enforcement, judges, probation departments and you offer people an out (but) you say, ‘If you don’t do it, there’s going to be consequences’ and you get great results.”

Organizers said the recidivism rate among individuals completing the program is 18.3 percent — much lower than the 52 percent recidivism rate for those who don’t complete the program, which they described as “a significant achievement given that this program exclusively serves chronic, high-frequency recidivists who would be expected to (re-offend) at rates well above the national average.”

“We looked at a few people who spent more time in the jail in a year period than they ever did ever outside of it, and by getting them the treatment that they needed, we were able to reduce that,” Walenciej said. “And I think significantly…you’ll see that it talks about the fact that there was an $800,000 savings in bed days alone. So by removing those folks from the jail, getting them into treatment, we’re not seeing an increase in the crime, we’re not seeing an increase in recidivism with these folks and we were able to save the county the funds that we would normally put into keeping these folks in the jail.”

Abdalla said those who complete the program leave with “some hope and opportunities.”

“Some people don’t care about it until it touches them,” he added. “But the impact is like dropping a pebble in water and it becoming a tidal wave: Our jail population is way down, the recidivism rate is down and we’ve got fewer guys coming back to jail. People are getting healthy, which is what we want to make a stronger, safer community and get people who can provide for themselves.”

Commissioner Eric Timmons said it comes down to the numbers.

“It’s saved us $800,000 and the recidivism rate is (less) than the state average,” he said. “That’s good enough for me. I applaud their efforts.”

Commissioner Jake Kleineke said it’s about breaking the cycle of addiction.

“I have a guy who’s next to me all the time,” he said, gesturing to Morelli. “He always says, ‘Second chances, people need second chances’. It’s hard to get that chain broken, the behavior, so I think it’s money well spent.”

Commissioners approved another $140,000 from the opioid settlement fund for the program.