Pubdate: Thu, 30 May 2002
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Copyright: 2002 Rutland Herald
Contact:  http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/892
Author: Tracy Schmaler

DRUG ABUSE FIGHT PUTS STRAIN ON BUDGET

MONTPELIER -- The state Health Department is facing a $1.2 million deficit 
that officials attribute to the rising costs of treating heroin and other 
substance addictions, lawmakers learned Wednesday.

The director of the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs told members 
of a joint House and Senate conference committee that he is over budget by 
$536,997 this year and is looking at a projected $717,000 deficit in the 
fiscal year 2003 budget.

Thomas Perras said the deficit was the result of a higher-than-expected 
number of clients seeking state-funded treatment and the state being forced 
to send many of those clients out of state because Vermont lacks those 
services.

"I think the majority of the cost is associated with heroin," he said. 
"We've been using Conifer Park a lot. It's been the only resource, or the 
primary resource, used by the courts and corrections."

Conifer Park is a residential treatment center in New York. Most Vermont 
clients sent there are referred because it has services to treat heroin 
addiction.

The state has very little heroin-specific treatment and no residential 
centers geared toward those addicts. With more heroin being used in the 
state, officials are forced to ship addicts who seek help elsewhere for 
treatment.

Perras said the shortfall would not be as large if the state had some of 
its own programs, including a methadone clinic to treat the rising number 
of heroin addicts. "I think it would be smaller in terms of how much we 
spend sending people out of state," he said.

A clinic is scheduled to open in Burlington in the coming months, but 
advocates say it has been too long in coming in part because of powerful 
opponents, including Gov. Howard Dean. A former physician, Dean has 
softened his opposition as long as the programs are administered in 
affiliation with hospitals.

Perras estimated his office spends more than $1 million a year to send 
patients to treatment centers outside Vermont at a cost of up to $250 a day.

He warned, however, that when a heroin treatment program does open in 
Vermont, it probably would be flooded with patients.

The news of the shortfall Wednesday was unwelcome to lawmakers who have 
been pushing to wrap up negotiations on a state budget and adjourn the 
legislative session.

"The fact that we are dealing with this on May 29 points to an 
inconsistency in the state's approach to drug addiction, which includes 
alcohol," said Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, a member of the budget 
negotiating committee. "It clearly points to the state's shortcomings."

It was not clear whether the deficit would delay adjournment of the 
Legislature, which is expected this weekend. But it does compound looming 
fiscal problems for state officials and legislators who recently learned 
they would have to use $20 million in reserve funds to balance this year's 
budget because of a projected shortfall in state revenues.

The deficit in Perras' office is not the only state department over budget. 
For weeks now, the Dean administration has been working with the Public 
Safety Department to try to reconcile what was projected to be a $1 million 
shortfall in the department's current budget.

Lawmakers said they are considering different sources of money to make up 
for the shortage in the Health Department, but that would mean taking funds 
from another program.

"It's like putting a finger in a dike," said Rep. Richard Westman, 
R-Cambridge, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. The budget 
committee is scheduled to revisit the deficit when it meets Thursday morning.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens