County may lose grant for addicts

LORRINE THOMPSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published October 22, 2001

THURSTON COUNTY -- With the aid of a state grant, county health workers might help seriously drug-addicted residents halt the ugly downward spiral of addiction -- or not.

Just days after awarding a $300,000 grant to Thurston County, the state's Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse has had to place the grant on a potential budget chopping block.

"It's bad timing," said Ken Stark, director of the division.

The state had allocated $2.8 million for 10 programs around the state for seriously addicted people -- called "gravely disabled" in a new definition of people incapacitated by drugs and alcohol.

But state department directors have been asked to propose cuts of up to 15 percent of their budgets to account for a projected state budget shortfall.

"The reason these programs were put on the table (for possible cuts) is because they haven't been implemented yet," Stark said.

The grant, if it is awarded, will pay for an emergency services patrol van and staff, added capacity in the Providence St. Peter Chemical Dependency Center, case management services with South Sound Mental Health, and additional involuntary commitment space.

The program could help family members, businesses, police officers and health workers who don't know where to call if someone is intoxicated and out of control.

"These are people causing problems in the community. They are high utilizers of the (emergency rooms) because they can't take care of themselves," said Erik Landaas, health educator and program manager with the county Chemical Dependency Program.

The number of gravely disabled addicts is growing because the highly addictive drug methamphetamine is cheap and easy to get, Landaas said.

That is putting added strain on law enforcement and health workers.

"Their disease progresses and they get sicker and sicker," Stark said. "They cost the taxpayers more and more money as they bounce back and forth between ERs and jails and detox centers and shelters."

It also poses a transportation problem for police and emergency workers, Landaas said, which is why a van is part of the program.

What happens now is this:

Police officers get a call about a disruptive person, and respond to find someone highly intoxicated and acting out, but not necessarily breaking laws. Officers are forced to decide whether to take the person to jail, the hospital or the detox center, or call out a mental health professional for an evaluation.

Officers also spend valuable time driving the person to a detox center or an emergency room, where addicts are often quickly released to repeat the pattern.

"It's a chemical-dependency issue, not a law-enforcement issue," Landaas said.

Similarly, an intoxicated person arrives at an emergency room with health problems, and is soon released, or sent to a detox center in a taxi, only to continue showing up at the ER because the addiction remains.

Van patrol

The Emergency Services Patrol program would include a van that would patrol from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. most nights, with staff members trained in evaluation.

Police officers, hospital workers, family members or businesses could call on the van when intoxicated people become disruptive.

Staff members will evaluate them and, with the help of officers or physicians, decide where they need to go, then transport them.

Even if the addicts go to the hospital or jail, first, they will likely end up in the detox center.

Each person in the program will be assigned a case worker, will be eligible for mental health counseling, and could be taken to a 90-day involuntary commitment center north of Seattle.

The grant pays for added capacity in the Chemical Dependency Center, added case workers with South Sound Mental Health, and for space in the involuntary commitment center.

The program reaches out to addicts that the county can't often reach, Landaas said.

"We've never done anything like this," he said. "We're always looking for a way to bridge that gap between people on the street, and treatment. We've been looking for ways to get people to cross that bridge."

Often, these addicts can't or won't reach out themselves because they are severely affected. But if a program reaches them at a low point, when police or family have called in for help, it can be the right time, he said.

"People are desperate and out of control, and that's when you want to reach them, once the drugs have worn off," he said.

"They're at a point when they're starting to lose everything. That's when you want to talk to them, and ask them, 'Do you really want to be swinging a bat at this car?' You can try to prevent the harm people will do to themselves and others."

That's if the program gets a chance to get going.

Stark said the budget cuts are proposed at this time, not definite.

"These programs have proven effective, and in the long run, they save the community money," he said.

"But right now, we're dealing with budget problems that are in the short run."

Town hall forum

The Olympian, KGY radio and Thurston Community Television are sponsoring a town hall discussion on methamphetamine problems from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific Ave.

Forum broadcast

For those who cannot attend the methamphetamine forum, KGY will broadcast it live on 1240 AM. A TCTV crew also will tape the meeting for broadcast at the following times: 7 p.m. Oct. 31; 2 p.m. Nov. 3; noon Nov. 5; 7 p.m. Nov. 7; 1 p.m. Nov. 10; 10 a.m. Nov. 12; 7 p.m. Nov. 14; and 3 p.m. Nov. 15.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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