SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) – The Salt Lake County Jail is expanding to make room for an opioid treatment program inside the facility.
ABC4’s Sarah Martin was there as officials announced the big news.
The program is called the Medication Assisted Treatment (M.A.T) program and officials say it is expanding because it is working.
In about six months of data, the Salt Lake County Jail has only seen 3 percent of MAT clients come back to jail.
The MAT program uses all three FDA approved drug to treat addiction, but it is not just about medication, clients in the jail get counseling group therapy and a solid exit plan to keep on track after being released.
Three nurses and three counselors plus a program manager run MAT. They handle about 55 inmates at a time who are in some stage of addiction recovery.
It is all funded by a federal grant and driven by a belief that addiction must be treated not punished.
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