Kate Lowery from Beaver County Behavioral Health and Beaver Falls Police Chief John DeLuca were guests of guest host Frank Sparks on Teleforum on Friday morning, March 24,2017.

Kate talked more about the complex issue surrounding Beaver County contracting with Gateway Rehabilitation Center for rehab services. Kate explained that there are many types of rehabilitation services that the county requires and Gateway does not offer some of the services. Kate explained that the services that Gateway does offer that the county could utilize are at a cost that is higher than what those services can be obtained from other providers.

State Rep. Jim Christiana met with Kate and Beaver County Behavioral Health staff on Friday March 17, 2017 to discuss the complex issue and that it’s not as easy as Gateway is here in the county and we should be using them. Kate stated on Teleforum that the meeting went well and the meeting ended by Kate inviting Rep. Christiana to continue the conversation at any that he would like to.

Beaver Falls Police Chief John DeLuca and Kate talked about a unique program that has been started in Beaver Falls where if a person over doses after Narcan has been issued they are transported to the Police Department to monitored for four hours and then after sobering out they are offered to be in the program. Chief DeLuca detailed that the program is done at a magisterial level and the person is charged with disorderly conduct and then admitted into the program and must agree to complete the program that lasts for 90 days. Upon completion of the program the charges are withdrawn. The first person to complete the full 90 days of the program was honored with a certificate of completion Friday afternoon at the Beaver Falls Municipal Building.

Chief DeLuca explained that the program is in the infant stages and they are learning and making adjustments as they go. We plan on having Kate and Chief DeLuca on Teleforum again in the near future to keep us up to speed on the progress.

If you are interested in helping out with the program and want to know more you can contact Chief DeLuca at 724-846-7004 .