Using a $345,000 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome grant, the Haven4Change transitional group home for women at 1500 Parkside Drive in Bowling Green is expanding to serve more women recovering from substance abuse.

LifeSkills Inc., which has operated Haven4Change since December 2016, was approved at Thursday’s meeting of the Board of Adjustments of Warren County for a conditional-use permit that will allow the expansion from 16 beds to 24.

The expansion will add 3,400 square feet to the building and 12 parking spaces.

The expansion is needed, said LifeSkills Director of Substance Abuse Services Karen Garrity, to allow the facility to serve more women.

“We keep a waiting list,” said Garrity, who pointed out that Haven4Change is for women over age 18 and their children under age 12. “We’re a transitional living facility. The women actually sign a lease and pay rent.”

The Haven4Change website said each resident commits to a six- to 12-month program that begins and revolves around recovery. Case management is provided by a licensed person with experience in substance abuse treatment.

Haven4Change, formerly Phoenix House, has been in operation since 1997. Because the facility allows children of the recovering women to stay there, its services are in high demand, according to LifeSkills CEO and President Joe Dan Beavers.

“Not many programs allow women and their children to stay together,” Beavers said. “We have operated it since December 2016, and we had a great partnership with them as a referral source before then.”

The conditional-use permit approved Thursday calls for the group home to have a maximum occupancy of 25 adults, including at least one full-time staff member on duty 24 hours per day. Occupants will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing.

At Thursday’s meeting, the board also approved a conditional-use permit that will allow Timothy and Kendra Minton to operate a child care center at 424 Wayne St. in Smiths Grove, property that is zoned single-family residential.

The former Lions Club building on a 2.1-acre lot near North Warren Elementary School will be open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. weekdays and will serve a maximum of 30 children.

Also approved was a conditional-use permit that will allow Jill and David Wright to operate a nail salon on their property at 369 Hill Road in Bowling Green.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.