Akron City Council is expected to approve a contract tonight for treatment of people with drug addictions. The new package addresses concerns raised in an audit last year.
The contract with Oriana Housecovers people sentenced to substance abuse treatment through Akron Municipal Court. The new agreement is for $5 million for the next 20 months. That’s about half a million dollars less than the city had been paying.
The adjustment follows a review of Oriana House by the city, Summit County and the county’s Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board following concerns about drug-use and overdoses by people enrolled in the program.
Deputy Mayor James Hardy told a council committee last week the city will save money primarily because Oriana House will no longer be allowed to charge an a la carte fee for drug tests and other specialized services.
“This is an improvement from the city side of things from the way we’ve done it in the past. So we’re in line with the county, we’ve gone through a clean auditing process, we’ve had a good dialogue with Oriana House about the concerns that were raised previously.”
Council members say the private, nonprofit agency has been responsive and continues to have a strong reputation in the treatment community.
