October 4, 2007

Horizons, Inc. Earns $2.5 Million Grant for Expanded Substance Abuse Treatment and HIV Prevention
in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE – A new grant totaling $2.5 million over the course of five years has been awarded to Horizons Inc., of Milwaukee by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The grant will enable Horizons, a Department of Corrections (DOC) community partner, to increase access to substance abuse treatment and HIV prevention for women in the criminal justice system returning to the Milwaukee community.

“We are pleased to be collaborating with Horizons Inc. to implement strategies that help women make a successful transition from prison or jail back into the Milwaukee community, which ultimately means safer, stronger and healthier families and communities,” Secretary Raemisch said. “Our support for this grant reflects our agency’s ongoing commitment to gender-specific approaches in managing offenders, and supporting efforts that will go a long way toward breaking the intergenerational cycle of crime and strengthening families in the long run.

The grant will cover alcohol and drug abuse treatment, HIV education, testing and other programming for at least 600 women over five years. Participants will be women ages 18-54 who have been released from prisons or jails within the past two years, along with their children and partners.

DOC worked with Horizons in applying for the grant through SAMHSA, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant will allow Horizons to expand its Community Connections outpatient program, which covers a population that is shown to be at increased risk for substance abuse relapse and HIV infection. The DOC makes referrals to Community Connections from its Division of Community Corrections and through offenders returning to the community from the Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center and Taycheedah Correctional Institution for women.

“This is an amazing opportunity for Horizons to advance our mission and further assist justice involved women with substance abuse treatment and HIV prevention,” said Constance Shaver, Executive Director of Horizons. “We are thrilled to partner with the Department of Corrections to address the needs of these women returning to the Milwaukee community while providing them with full wrap around treatment and prevention services all under one roof.”

As a partner in implementing Governor Jim Doyle’s KidsFirst Agenda, DOC has been working with other state agencies and community-based organizations to develop innovative programs for female offenders and break the cycle of crime and incarceration and punishment.

Earlier this year, Horizons Inc. received a separate, $450,000 grant from the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program to be the lead agency in launching Project HEART, which links criminal justice-involved women in Milwaukee County with access to preventive health screenings, counseling and other programming. The agency’s Horizon House community-based treatment facility has served women in the city of Milwaukee since 1971.

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10/4/07