Mahoning County receives $150K grant from state mental health agency

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County has been awarded a $150,000 a year state grant for two years that will help county jail inmates and Community Corrections Association halfway house clients with mental illness and substance abuse conditions re-enter the community.

Tracy Plouck, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, who is in Youngstown today, announced the award of Criminal Justice-Behavorial Health Linkages grants to Mahoning and 37 other Ohio counties.

The grant’s goal is to strengthen collaboration between the local criminal justice system and behavioral health care agencies.

The award follows enactment this fall by the county commissioners of a resolution launching the county’s participation in the national Stepping Up initiative designed to reduce the number of mentally ill people in jails.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator and Vindy.com