The Howard County Health Department is expected to sign an agreement in the next two weeks with an Emmitsburg nonprofit agency to set up the county's first inpatient drug treatment center for pregnant women and women with children.
The facility could begin treating its first drug and alcohol addicts by the end of next month, said Frank McGloin, the county health department's addictions director.
"We're really excited about this," Mr. McGloin said. "We have identified a lot of women who would be in need of this who otherwise would have to go to Baltimore City or other counties, and now we can offer them services close to their homes."
The agreement would pay Potomac Health Care Foundation $462,000 per year to operate the facility. The nonprofit group already runs similar treatment centers for pregnant women and women with children in Frederick and Montgomery counties, said Bill Roby, the foundation's executive director.
The facility is designed to permit women to continue to care for their children while receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addictions. The women also will enroll in parent skills classes and vocational training during their six to nine months at the center, Mr. McGloin said.
"Women are often afraid to seek treatment because they fear they are going to have to give up their children. Now they won't have to," he said.
Women entering the program already will have gone through detoxification, Mr. Roby said. He compared the facility to a halfway house that offers clinical long-term treatment rather than intermediate medical care.
Assuming the agreement is signed, Potomac expects to begin treating up to five women at the Forest Motel in Ellicott City by the end of next month, Mr. Roby said.
A larger facility to be built in Elkridge would hold up to 10 women and 10 children, said Dave Ennis, who directs one of the foundation's Montgomery County centers.
He refused to identify the exact location until an agreement is signed for the property, but said it is not in a residential area, "so problems with neighbors shouldn't be an issue."
The new house is expected to be in operation by the end of the summer, and it also would offer outpatient treatment services for up to 40 women per year, Mr. Roby said.
Women will be referred to the center primarily by the county's Department of Social Services, the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County, the Grassroots emergency shelter, the county health department and the criminal justice system, Mr. McGloin said.
Although the center is targeted at Howard County residents, women from other counties also would be eligible for the program.
County officials are unable to estimate how many county residents might be suited for treatment at the center, because "women are not identified as quickly as men through the criminal justice system and women try to hide their addictions as much as possible out of fear of losing their children," Mr. McGloin said.
"But what I've been saying to people is that we shouldn't have any trouble keeping the 20 slots filled," he said.
The awarding of the grant this week caps more than 20 years of work by Mr. McGloin and others in the county to open an inpatient treatment facility designed for women.
The money for the project comes from the county's share of a $22 million federal block grant to Maryland for substance abuse prevention and treatment.
The grant is administered by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The remainder of the $629,000 that the county will receive annually from the block grant will go toward after-care treatment and other addiction-related programs, Mr. McGloin said.