Health officials, law enforcement officers and representatives from nonprofit groups have come together through the Residential Continuum Care Facility Committee to develop a way to provide the transitional housing. The committee is made up of approximately 30 members and is chaired by the Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County.

No halfway house programs exist in Carroll County, said George Butler, a drug investigator with the state's attorney's office and committee member. The committee identified a need for a housing treatment program through a needs survey, he said, completed by committee members, health professionals involved with other treatment programs, and county inmates.

Survey participants were asked what type of housing programs they would support in the county and what demographics most need the help offered by a halfway or supportive recovery home. Survey results showed an immediate need for a transitional housing program for men ages 18 to 25, Butler said.

The committee, which was formed in April 2003, is now concentrating its efforts on locating property or an existing residence in Carroll County to be used for the project, Butler said. Organizers are also looking for people from the community to join the committee to become a part of the planning process.

Working without any funding, committee members are seeking a group to donate a building or a piece of property that could be used for the transitional housing program.

"The donation is probably going to dictate how we will move from here," Butler said.

Once a site is selected, committee members hope to create a board of directors to launch a regulated and licensed transitional housing facility, Butler said. Organizers are looking to start small, he said, hopefully beginning the halfway house program with a seven-bed residence. Committee members will look for ways to expand the program to include women if the halfway house proves successful, he said.

Butler said he hopes a halfway house would complement the future long-term drug treatment facility, to be located at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville.

Reach staff writer Greg Guenthner at 410-857-7886 or gregoryg@lcniofmd.com.

Information

For more information on the Residential Continuum Care Facility Committee, or to make a donation, contact George Butler at 410-386-2671 or Laura Rhodes at 410-871-6373.

The committee meets at 4 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month at the Courthouse Annex, 55 N. Court St., Westminster.