……In a hastily-called meeting Friday at 9 a.m., Hancock County Commissioners Eron Chek and Paul Cowey voted to contract with outside legal counsel to guide them in awarding opioid funds to Family Care Excellence. Assistant Prosecutor Mike Lucas is the assigned attorney for the County Commission from the Prosecutor’s Office and has worked with request for funds from all the recipients.
……. Family Care Excellence request did not provide the necessary information from the beginning. FCE wanted $800,000.00 to construct a new men’s dormitory, yet they did not supply rendering and the cost per square foot was considered out of line by Commissioner Tommy Ogden, who owns Builder’s Supply. Ogden requested that information. Family Care Excellence was also different because it was entirely faith-based and was not credentialed because they had no accredited counselor on staff. If an addict was brought in and was going through detox, they took them to Northwood in Weirton. Describing themselves as “Christ-centered” I wondered if they simply turned Jewish addicts away, or Atheists. Isn’t the funding for all?
……. I was at a meeting with the Commissioners, Attorney Lucas and Josh Lytle, president of FCE, which was also attended by East Liverpool’s Police Chief who is a Board member. If I had been suspicious of Family Care Excellence’s intent in getting the money before, my concern escalated ten-fold. I did my homework prior to that meeting by having a conversation with Lytle confirmed that the addiction treatment facility is faith-based and not credentialed. There is a women-residential dorm, but there is no counselor on staff. Instead, the staff seem to consist of Lytle’s wife, and his father. I asked Lytle why the parameters for the new build was so large, and he said it could be a room for socialization (can you say services), While Lytle claims no-one is ever charged the brochures say otherwise. Donations are sought to cover the $200.00 tuition for each student. And, it struck me as unbelievable that a faith-based addiction treatment facility would conduct raffles (isn’t gambling an addiction) and according to their website have guns as the prizes (that is an insult to every domestic violence group in the State. The State of West Virginia’s most effective domestic violence campaign was to tell abusers they would lose their guns,) What kind of a treatment center sells raffle tickets for guns to addicts? As a former member of the House of Delegates and Board member at CHANGE, Inc., I was deeply involved in getting CHANGE’s Domestic Violence program and shelter funded and credentialed. Raffling off the guns scares me. But, what scares me more is the judgement of those running the program.
……..But it appears it doesn’t matter what West Virginia and Hancock County want, The Board that governs FCE has only one West Virginia resident on it…a retired minister from Weirton. While the Police Chief of East Liverpool is on the Board, no-one from Hancock County Law enforcement is involved. In fact, I was told by a Hancock County deputy that 85% of those in residence are from Ohio.
……..At that meeting, Josh Lytle did not act like a man who needed to address any concerns. In fact, even point- blank questions like about the residency, need for new construction, were not answered. In fact, Lytle countered a question about how many out-of-state residents were being treated by saying he didn’t know, but told a “success story” of an addict.
………In order to receive the funds, a Memorandum of Understanding” had to be worked out and Family Care Excellence was to work with Attorney Lucas. My guess is they didn’t comply and Chek and Cowey decided they didn’t like the fact that Attorney Lucas was fulfilling his duty. So they decided to find one who might give different answers,
………It’s called “Lawyer Shopping.” When I questioned Chek as to where she was going to get a recommendation, she said “the County Commission Association.”
…….County Commissioner Tommy Ogden voted NO and tried to be a voice of reason, but to no avail. Cowey has followed Chek’s lead in every vote on this issue and most other issues. Ogden issued this statement:
“I’ve expressed major concerns over the viability of this project. I’m not against FCE (Family Care Excellence), but I’d rather give them $80,000.00 to $100,000.00 to bolster current operations than build a whole separate operation which even if construction costs are completed, comes with drastic increases in monetary expenses. We need to be certain of ongoing feasibility.
I’m opposed to seeking other (legal) counsel. Mike (Lucas) has been on this from day one and always guided us the right way. He is great legal counsel. But, how are we paying for this new counsel? Is it out of the remaining opioid funds, the award to Family Care Excellence or our general budget?”
……Lot of questions and no answers. The Commissioners had a regularly scheduled meeting next week, so I question the need for a special meeting. My opinion is that when Chek and Cowey would go to such extra-ordinary lengths to secure the funding for an organization that is surrounded by questions and controversy, something is up!
