Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jul 2002
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2002 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Henry Pierson Curtis, Sentinel Staff Writer

LOCAL CENTER CAUGHT BUSH'S EYE LONG AGO

The Central Florida program that Noelle Bush sought for drug treatment is 
well-known to Gov. Jeb Bush and his family.

Bush and his wife, Columba, began visiting the Center for Drug-Free Living 
in Orlando before he took office, according to counselors. They have had an 
ongoing interest in drug-prevention programs statewide.

"They've worked very closely with us," center spokeswoman Joan Ballard 
said. "Columba has been a big advocate for prevention."

Founded in 1971, the center has grown into a $30 million-a-year collection 
of residential- and outpatient-treatment facilities that treated 14,655 
people last year in Orange, Osceola and Brevard counties.

Last February, Noelle, 24, joined a group home in west Orange County for 
adult women suffering from substance abuse. She transferred from a 
treatment program in Leon County, records show.

Center personnel would not comment on the governor's daughter, saying all 
clients are protected by a privacy policy.

At the group home, the women live two to a room on a quadrangle around a 
courtyard. The program was created partly to provide treatment to pregnant 
and postpartum mothers.

The center's other facilities include state-funded Juvenile Justice 
programs near SeaWorld in south Orange County and Intercession City in 
Osceola County. Together they house 265 teen-agers younger than 18, Ballard 
said.

Other center services in Orlando include a methadone program that daily 
treats 140 men and women, a 36-bed program for adult addicts, a 40-bed 
program for adolescents, and a 37-bed detoxification program to wean 
addicts off drugs.

One of the most recent programs involves a series of "village houses" in 
neighborhoods around Orlando where young people can stop in for counseling 
and activities.

"It's a place for kids to come -- a lot of latchkey kids after school," 
Ballard said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens