Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003
Source: Kentucky Post (KY)
Copyright: 2003 Kentucky Post
Contact:  http://www.kypost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/661
Author: Peggy Kreimer

DRUG COUNSELOR PROGRAM SEEKS NEW FUNDING

Drug counselor Pamela Kammerer hears the same explanations over and over as 
high school students talk with her about their drug and alcohol use. "I'm 
not comfortable unless I'm high."

"I'm funnier when I'm drunk."

List of services .  Catholic Social Services' Substance Abuse Solutions 
program are held at Bishop Brossart, Covington Catholic, St. Henry 
District, Pendleton County, Newport Independent, Newport Central Catholic, 
Holy Cross and Holmes high schools .  To discuss grants for the Substance 
Abuse Solutions program, call Herk Iames, (859) 581-8974.

.  Catholic Social Services also provides programs: to teach home ownership 
skills for low-income families, about parenting, youth leadership, for 
educational support and conflict resolution, for bolstering self esteem and 
about poverty issues. Adoption services and substance abuse counseling also 
are provided.

.  Catholic Social Services launched its public appeal this month for the 
organization's annual campaign with $80,000 already raised through private 
and corporate donations.

.  To donate, call Catholic Social Services at (859) 581-8974 or log on to 
www.cssnky.org

"I never really had any friends until I started getting high."

She listens, shares information on medical and emotional effects drugs have 
on the body and mind, and helps students figure out how to take control.

"My job is to help them, not to rat on them," Kammerer says.

She's one of five counselors who hold regular office hours in eight schools 
as part of the Catholic Social Services' Substance Abuse Solutions program, 
which has been operating in eight private and public schools in Northern 
Kentucky for three years.

The program got $249,000 as a three-year start-up grant from the Health 
Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. But that funding expires this year, 
making the Substance Abuse Solutions program one of the main funding 
projects for Catholic Social Services' annual campaign, which started this 
month.

The goal of the drive is to raise $130,000 of the agency's $1.7 million 
budget. Other agency funding comes from the United Way, the Diocese of 
Covington, program fees and other donations.

"At the end of each year, we look at what is the most critical need, what 
program needs the biggest boost," said Matt Hollenkamp, a spokesman for 
Catholic Social Services. "This one is real clear. The (Substance Abuse 
Solutions) program is effecting change. If the campaign is not successful 
and we don't have a strong operating budget next year, we can't operate it 
at the same level."

The seed money from the Health Foundation helped subsidize the schools' 
portions of the cost of counselors. As that grant runs out, other sources 
of money must be found. Schools are picking up more of the costs, and 
funding from the annual campaign and additional grants Catholic Social 
Services is pursuing will cover some of the costs.

The drug program in Northern Kentucky is the only one that places 
counselors in the schools, Hollenkamp said.

Last year, the program's counselors worked with 224 students.

Records show a 25 percent increase for students in the program in five key 
areas, said Herk Iames, substance abuse supervisor for Catholic Social 
Services: daily living skills, relationships, depression, impulse addiction 
psychosis and level of use.

School administrators say based on input from school staff and, most 
importantly, from students themselves, they see the program making a 
difference.

"Kids want to continue to see the counselor," Iames said.

Kammerer, who works with students at Holy Cross and St. Henry District high 
schools, said students can be referred to the program by teachers or school 
administrators or parents, or they can decide to seek counseling themselves.

"When they first come in, they don't know if you're going to set them up, 
get them expelled," Kammerer said. "When they begin to trust, then they 
will answer the questionnaires truthfully."

Much of her work aims at informing students about the effects of drugs and 
alcohol, and about general life issues.

"We may find issues of anxiety, self esteem," she said. "A lot of times, 
(drugs are) a way to escape worries about being accepted in school, or 
other problems.

"They don't have enough tools to deal with life. A lot of times, the only 
tool they have is anger. My job is to give them coping tools."

Several students have told Kammerer "you ruined a good high for me last 
weekend," she said. "They say, 'Now I know what it's doing to my brain 
chemistry and to my body, I just couldn't have as much fun as I used to.'"

That's often the beginning of a new direction as students work to change 
their lifestyles.

The easily accessible counseling can be crucial to support those changes.

"Sometimes friends are excited and come on board, and they support each 
other," said Kammerer. "Others say there's nothing wrong with what we're doing.

"That's the hardest part -- when you have the old friends who are still 
using and you haven't made the new friends yet. That's when they really 
need someone who believes in them and encourages them."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman