00;00;00;04 - 00;00;13;18
Stephanie Wiechmann
Announced to the public in May, the program's official name is the Integrated Reentry and Correctional Support Program. IRACS for short. And it's meant to bring counseling to people in some of their lowest moments. But it isn't completely focused on those moments.

00;00;13;22 - 00;00;25;01
Jayme Whitaker
So the moment they're incarcerated, the moment they arrive in jail, we're already starting to look at their reentry and what their needs are, what sort of challenges they are facing, what kind of partners do they need.

00;00;25;03 - 00;00;46;06
Stephanie Wiechmann
Jayme Whitaker is the vice president of forensic services at Mental Health America of Indiana. He oversees the statewide program that Delaware County is using. And I spoke to him by cell phone from Kokomo. He says every member of the team, counselors, navigators and supervisors are people he describes as having lived experience. They faced substance abuse, incarceration or other hard times themselves.

00;00;46;10 - 00;01;09;01
Jayme Whitaker
And when people connect with them, it really provides the support of people that they know they can relate to who have had similar experiences. Sometimes have similar, has very similar histories, and allows you to have a connection and an understanding of knowing that not only do you have someone who walk with you that understands what you're going through, but also someone that knows the way out of the hard place.

00;01;09;03 - 00;01;27;21
Stephanie Wiechmann
Whitaker says though the pilot program started with a large grant, it's designed to be self-sustaining and should continue to help Delaware County inmates long into the future. And Delaware County isn't the only one to start the IRACS program this year. Services will also be started in Blackford, Davies, Dearborn and Scott counties. In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.