The Lancaster County Prison will once again have long-acting Vivitrol injections in its arsenal of options for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) of substance abuse disorders, thanks to a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency.
The $135,848 grant is enough to cover 105 injections, Deputy Warden Joe Shiffer told the county commissioners at their work session Tuesday. The commissioners authorized the prison to accept the funding by unanimous vote Wednesday.
Vivitrol is a brand name for naltrexone, which reduces cravings in individuals addicted to opioids or alcohol. Each injection lasts 30 days, Shiffer said.
The prison previously offered Vivitrol under a PCCD grant that expired in 2022. Since then, it has offered naltrexone in oral form, Shiffer said. The MAT program also uses two other medications, Subutex (buprenorphine) and methadone.
The grant period lasts 24 months, from this past October through the end of September 2026. The prison is budgeting $88,872 for the first 12 months, $46,976 for the second.
The prison has ramped up its MAT program significantly, and about 160 people are “on the line,” Shiffer said. Besides state grants, support for the program comes from the county’s share of opioid settlement funds.
