A Montana nonprofit serving the Apsáalooke Nation has received state opioid abatement funding to advance a family healing center designed to keep children out of foster care while their parents recover from addiction.
Mountain Shadow Association (MSA) announced this week it has been awarded $150,000 over two years through the Montana Opioid Abatement Trust (MOAT) to support Kaala’s Village, a first-of-its-kind facility in Lodge Grass that aims to keep families together through addiction treatment.
MOAT is the statewide entity created to receive, manage, and distribute Montana’s share of national opioid settlement funds. The funds are restricted to opioid remediation, with the goal of helping communities prevent addiction, support recovery, and reduce overdose deaths.
Kaala’s Village departs from a traditional foster care model. Rather than separating children from parents who enter treatment, the center provides a community-based alternative: parents can pursue long-term recovery while their children remain nearby.
After treatment, families reunite through a restorative justice process and gain access to workforce training in construction, agriculture, hospitality, childcare, and food processing before transitioning into stable housing and employment.
The MOAT award will specifically support the integration of behavioral healthcare services for children and parents involved in Mountain Shadow’s recovery programming.
The program centers Apsáalooke cultural values while addressing the root causes of family instability: housing insecurity, untreated addiction, unemployment, and the trauma of separation.
“This investment strengthens our region’s behavioral health workforce, expands access to nutritious food and meaningful work, and supports a model of healing that is both culturally rooted and economically sustainable,” said Megkian Doyle, Executive Director of Mountain Shadow Association. “MOAT funding accelerates our ability to build a place where families can heal together, where grandparents reclaim their cultural role, and where children grow up surrounded by safety, belonging, and opportunity.”
