ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Buncombe County’s Medication-Assisted Treatment program is expanding. Commissioners on Tuesday approved accepting $265,000 in grant funding from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety for the sheriff’s office.

The funds will be used to increase MAT staff in the Buncombe County Detention Facility, according to county documents. No county funding was required to accept the grant.

The county’s MAT program, which started in 2019, uses medications, combined with counseling and behavioral therapies, to help treat substance use disorders.

The county’s website called MAT an innovative program for a detention facility — only 1 percent of jails or prisons across the country offer MAT programs, according to a study by the Pew Charitable Trust.

Before the MAT program was implemented at the Buncombe County Detention Facility, only pregnant detainees were offered medication for a substance use disorder as part of the recovery process. Other individuals who came into the facility on medications, such as methadone, were tapered off their medication through a process called medical detox, the county’s website said. Now, individuals with prescriptions may continue their medication as part of the MAT program.

The website said detainees diagnosed with opioid use disorder will be evaluated for referral to the MAT program and will have access to medication for substance use disorder, recovery counseling, and other psycho-education and support classes.