Pubdate: Mon, 26 Apr 2004
Source: The Patriot Ledger (MA)
Copyright: 2004 The Patriot Ledger
Contact:  http://ledger.southofboston.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1619
Author: Casey Ross

ADDICTS ON THEIR OWN

Inpatient Help for Young Drug Abusers, Especially Girls, Is Almost Nonexistent

Adolescent South Shore drug addicts, especially girls, are being refused
inpatient treatment because drastically dwindling funds have left the 
region with
just 10 available beds, none of them for females.

Even as arrest rates for heroin and other drugs among juveniles
accelerate, there is just one residential program for teenagers on the
South Shore, and that program, Project Rebound, off Squantum Street in
Quincy, serves only boys. Parents of young women are told they must
wait months for a bed at facilities in Falmouth, Attleboro and Lawrence.

"You expect to get help when you need it, but what you need
doesn't exist," said Robyn, a Weymouth mother of a 17-year-old heroin
addict who asked that her last name be withheld. "As a parent, I
don't want to keep going through this. My daughter's life is
unraveling." Despite warnings of a crisis from police and
prosecutors, the state has cut spending on substance abuse treatment
by 30 percent since the 2001-2002 fiscal year - from $48.3 million to
$33.8 million this year - forcing some facilities to close and others
to reduce services.

In the three programs statewide that accept teenage girls, there are
fewer than 50 treatment beds and they are constantly full, officials
said. Addicted teenagers can still get help through day programs and
outpatient counseling, but treatment officials say teenagers using
heroin and prescription drugs often require inpatient care.

"I'm very angry and very frustrated," said Earl Dandy, program
director at Project Rebound, which is operated by Volunteers of
America Massachusetts. "We get calls from kids, parents, clergy
and schoolteachers, and we can't bring them in." Dandy said he has 22
treatment beds but can fill only 10 of them because of budget cuts. At
full capacity, he said, Project Rebound could treat another 50
teenagers a year.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials say addiction is becoming a
crisis among South Shore teenagers because of easily available
prescription drugs and potent heroin that costs as little as $4 a bag
and can be snorted instead of injected. In Norfolk County, arrests of
people under 21 on heroin-related charges have steadily increased in
recent years, jumping from 19 in 1999 to 47 last year. Since the
beginning of this year, more teenagers have been arrested on heroin
charges ithan in all of 1998 and 1999 combined.

"It's very difficult, and what people have to realize is that
people who don't get treatment end up in emergency rooms," said John
McGahan, director of Cushing House, a 12-bed program for teenage boys
in South Boston. "So (taxpayers) pay more for that than actual
detoxification treatment." The Massachusetts Hospital Association
says emergency substance abuse treatment has become a significant
drain on the state's free care pool, which pays for treatment of
people without health insurance.

"What we're hearing from our members is that this is becoming a
big source of pressure on the free care pool and the emergency
department setting," said Paul Wingle, a spokesman for the Hospital
Association. "People under the influence of drugs or alcohol are
tough patients to deal with." Gov. Mitt Romney has proposed slicing
another $2 million from spending on substance abuse treatment in the
budget year that begins July 1. But state public health officials say
the governor is redirecting money to other human service agencies to
develop a more comprehensive network of substance abuse services They
say the governor's budget proposal would increase overall spending on
substance abuse treatment by $11.5 million by spreading resources to
agencies like the Department of Youth Services.

"Substance abuse issues are exploding, and that begs the question
how each of our respective systems can respond to that," said Michael
Botticelli, assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Substance Abuse
Services. "Given finite resources, we're trying to make sure we
are providing as much access as we can." But treatment officials say
access to the most vital services - inpatient treatment for teenagers
with chronic addictions - is being denied in far too many cases. Ray
Tamasi, chief executive of Gosnold, a nonprofit that operates a
treatment center in Falmouth with 10 beds for adolescent girls, said
he expects to run out of state money this month. That leaves two
months before more funds arrive. He said there remains a societal
resistance to accepting substance abuse as a disease that requires
treatment. Meanwhile, more people end up in jails and emergency rooms,
he said. And more people die.

"There is overwhelming evidence of the efficacy of treatment,"
Tamasi said. "But that's a hard message to consistently get out
there." Robyn, the Weymouth single mother, said she agreed to tell
her daughter's story because she wants to help spread that message.
She said her daughter grew up playing soccer and playing in the school
band before her life took a turn when she started high school.

During the past three years, Robyn has battled against her daughter's
addictions, which started with cigarettes and alcohol when she was 14.
When the problems accelerated, with the abuse moving to prescription
drugs, she started to look for help.

She searched for months but found nothing but waiting lists. Then she
learned her daughter was using heroin and began to find needles.
"I was so angry. I tried for so long and I couldn't find help,"
she said. €'€'When I found out she was using heroin it destroyed me.
I feel right now there's not too much else I can do."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake