A new drug treatment center is North Carolina’s first residential treatment facility for women offenders in the state. Governor Bev Perdue spoke proudly at the drug treatment center’s opening ceremony last week.
“I believe you can be tough on crime while you’re also being smart on crime, and that’s what we’re really about here today,” said Perdue.
The Black Mountain Substance Abuse Center for Women accepted its first resident in May. The 50-bed drug treatment center is the North Carolina Department of Corrections’ only free-standing residential facility for women offenders struggling with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Inmates at other prisons can take advantage of substance abuse programs at the center.
Residents of the drug treatment center are either on parole after a period in prison or on probation and attending treatment as part of a court judgment. They will complete a 90-day treatment program.
Facility manager Leslie McCrory said the drug treatment center should be more effective than prison-based or outpatient programs, because it removes offenders from the environment and from people that may have encouraged their substance abuse.
The drug treatment center is a minimum-security facility that is locked only to keep people out. About a third of people entering the state’s prison system say drugs or alcohol were a major contributing factor to their crimes. The drug treatment center will reduce the chances that women who get treatment there will become repeat offenders and will stabilize family units. A good portion of the drug treatment center’s residents are mothers.
“I realize that my recovery will forever be a work in progress, one day at a time,” said Nicole Effer. “In this supportive community, we are able to learn a new way of life.”
