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A Pittsburgh nonprofit that provides Medicaid funded recovery housing for mothers with substance use disorder has received a $150,000 grant to help it keep serving families as federal Medicaid cuts loom, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Sojourner House is the only Pennsylvania organization to receive the award this round from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts, known as FORE, as part of a nearly $4 million national commitment to small community based groups working on the opioid crisis.
Who Qualifies for Free or Low-Cost Treatment
All of Sojourner House’s residents use Medicaid insurance to pay for treatment, and the 14-unit building often houses moms together with their children while they receive inpatient recovery services, therapy, relapse prevention, and family support.
That access is now at risk. A federal budget reconciliation bill passed last year reduces available Medicaid funding and changes eligibility requirements for approved providers of medication for opioid use disorder, putting Sojourner House’s Medicaid contract in jeopardy.
Vanessa Fuller, now 49, knows what that kind of coverage can mean. She called Sojourner House’s help line in 2011 at age 34, seeking help for excessive alcohol use, and ended up staying five months in the inpatient program before moving into its supportive housing for five more years.
“It was the structure they gave me here that is still my foundation,” she said, revisiting the same apartment where she first stayed.
How to Access These Resources
The two-year grant, which runs through 2028, will fund an updated electronic health record system so staff can better track patient needs, such as co-occurring health issues, average length of stay, and typical family size, information the organization’s outdated, segmented system could not capture well.
The funding also covers staff training on the new system and a staff member dedicated to tracking federal policy changes that affect funding, something Sojourner House’s 22-person staff previously had to squeeze in around therapy sessions, day care, and intake work.
Alison Sutter, senior program officer at FORE, said whole-family treatment services remain rare, and that a lack of childcare options often leaves parents with nowhere for their children to go while they pursue residential treatment.
Sojourner House’s supportive housing program, funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, gives families in East Pittsburgh a place to transition after inpatient treatment, and its on-site day care lets mothers receive care without being separated from their children.
Free and Low-Cost Rehabs in Pittsburgh
Mothers in the Pittsburgh area who use Medicaid do not have to choose between getting treatment and keeping their children close.
Programs structured around Medicaid coverage, family housing, and on-site child care, like Sojourner House, are built specifically to remove the barriers that keep pregnant and parenting women from seeking help, including fear of losing custody and a lack of childcare.
Rehabs.org lists a variety of rehab centers that accept Medicaid and offer affordable care. Call
800-914-7089
(
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to learn more about your treatment options.
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