EKCEP Participates in Recovery Month and Expands Support for Those Battling Addiction
Employment services for Kentuckians in recovery from addiction have remained in sharp focus for staff at Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), which recently expanded services thanks in part to the award of $450,000 in funding from the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission.
EKCEP’s Recovery & Reentry staff and contractors meet with Gov. Andy Beshear during a Recovery Month celebration in Frankfort.
Announced in June, the Commission’s award funds EKCEP’s new Project REACH (Recovery Employment and Career Help) initiative, allowing EKCEP to hire two job entry and retention support specialists to assist clients in recovery as they navigate the workforce system and obtain gainful employment.
"We are excited to be able to expand our services for people in the recovery and reentry space," said EKCEP Executive Director Becky Carnes-Miller. "This new program will allow us to help more Kentuckians find meaningful employment and lead self-sustaining lives with their families and away from addiction.”
Project REACH launched October 1 and is managed through EKCEP’s newly formed Recovery & Reentry Services division. These services range from basic career advising to financial assistance that helps clients overcome barriers to employment, such as covering the cost of transportation or childcare.
In addition to launching Project REACH, EKCEP actively promoted addiction recovery during National Recovery Month in September, which included a focused social media campaign and participation in the Recovery Month celebration at the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort. This event brought together individuals in recovery, their families, and service providers to celebrate recovery and raise awareness about substance use disorder.
EKCEP is committed to providing effective employment services to individuals in the recovery and reentry space. In Program Year 2023 alone, EKCEP’s Strategic Initiative for Transformational Employment (SITE) served more than 5,000 Kentuckians in recovery.
"We know that employment can be a crucial factor in the successful long-term recovery for people battling addiction,” Carnes-Miller added. "We are thankful for the support EKCEP has received from the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, Gov. Andy Beshear, and our state legislature to ensure that we don’t lose focus on helping some of our most vulnerable citizens get back on their feet.”
Visit ekcep.org/recovery to learn more.
EKCEP, a nonprofit workforce development agency headquartered in Hazard, Ky., serves the citizens of 23 Appalachian coalfield counties. The agency provides an array of workforce development services and operates the Kentucky Career Center JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to more than a dozen state and federal programs that offer employment and training assistance for jobseekers and employers all under one roof. Learn more about us at http://www.ekcep.org, http://www.jobsight.org and http://www.facebook.com/ekcep.
