Pubdate: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 Source: Blade, The (OH) Copyright: 2001 The Blade Contact: 541 North Superior St., Toledo OH 43660 Website: http://www.toledoblade.com/ Author: Jack Ford, House Minority Leader MAUMEE YOUTH CENTER HAS A VITAL ROLE The proposed closing of the state's Maumee Youth Center in Henry County, a 120-bed drug treatment facility, for budgetary purposes is pennywise and pound foolish. The center is one of only two substance abuse treatment-specific facilities operated by the Ohio Department of Youth Services. DYS has more than 2,000 youths incarcerated and 2,100 in community care. The director of DYS argues that the Maumee Youth Center is no longer in demand because under the philosophy of criminalizing delinquency, most of the department's commitments are felon offenders who would not fit in at a non-fenced, minimum-security facility. The director states that the Reclaim Ohio program of the community division is enough to meet the needs of substance-abusing youths. This is simply not true. The director of DYS fails to account for the fact that 75 percent of Ohio's DYS commitments self-report drug or alcohol abuse as a precipitating factor leading up to or during the perpetration of the offense. The director fails to account for the serious lack of treatment beds available for substance-abusing youth offenders. The director ignores the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in developing a trained work force at the Maumee Youth Center. Finally, the director fails to recognize the upcoming huge demographic shift where the state of Ohio will see hundreds of thousands of young folks hit the age of 14. We will need a facility such as the Maumee Youth Center even more than we do now. Most addiction professionals agree that youth treatment beds have been and remain a serious need in the addiction field. We should keep the Maumee Youth Center open and place those youths who truly need this type of setting. Closing this facility makes no sense and belies this administration 's claim to being pro-treatment. JACK FORD House Minority Leader - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake