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Bilingual addiction counseling available

YOUNGSTOWN — Spanish-speaking people who need counseling for alcohol and drug addiction now will have access to counselors who speak their language.

The Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board provided funding to Flying HIGH Inc. to train 14 bilingual people who obtained their Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant licenses, according to a news release.

Because the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board contracts with many of the same agencies as the Mahoning County board, Trumbull County clients will have access to the same bilingual counselors.

The Mahoning County board partnered with Flying HIGH Inc., which trained the new counselors, and with Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana Inc.

The Trumbull County board was not involved.

“The organizations and partners recognized that alcohol and drug services in the county could be enhanced by offering culturally specific services for Hispanic individuals, especially since Hispanics are the fastest-growing population nationally and in the Mahoning Valley,” the release states.

The training will qualify the 14 new counselors, fluent in English and Spanish, for entry-level positions with treatment providers.

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