By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – Missouri will receive nearly $23 million over the next three years to provide greater access to alcohol and drug abuse treatment.
The grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy will go towards a statewide voucher system that will give substance abusers a larger choice of treatment providers.
ONDCP Director John Walters says while there are services available, thousands of people nationwide can't successfully get into a recovery program.
"We have a distribution issue," Walters said. "And one of the things the vouchers allow us to do is not to buy slots which may or may not be used - but to buy services for people. The dollars follow the people."
State officials say the grant will not only expand existing access to treatment, but also help them track how well people are doing after they leave treatment facilities.