Pubdate: Tue, 04 Jan 2005
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2005 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: Roger Alford
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

10 DRUG CENTERS PLANNED

$9.5 Million To Go To Treatment Facilities

PIKEVILLE - Gov. Ernie Fletcher unveiled a $9.5 million initiative
yesterday to help pay for the construction and operation of 10 recovery
centers across the state for drug addicts, especially those who are
homeless.

"We are engaging in a new strategy to overcome drug abuse in Kentucky
with the establishment of housing recovery centers," Fletcher said in
Pikeville, one of five stops he made yesterday to discuss the plan.

Fletcher said he expects two of the recovery centers, part of a
program he calls Recovery Kentucky, to be in Eastern Kentucky, where
police are combating "an epidemic" of prescription drug abuse.

Three state agencies joined forces to pay for the project.

The Kentucky Housing Corp. will provide $2.5 million for construction
and operations. The Governor's Office for Local Development will put
up $4 million in federal funds through the Community Development Block
Grant program. And the Department of Corrections will contribute $3
million.

The proposed recovery centers are modeled after The Hope Center in
Lexington and The Healing Place in Louisville, both of which provide
shelter and safe places where addicts can recover.

Grants for operating the centers will be awarded to communities and
organizations on a competitive basis, so no decisions have been made
yet on where they will be located.

Each of the proposed new centers would treat either all men or all
women. The goal is to provide a recovery center in each of the state's
six congressional districts.

The proposed treatment centers are a good start toward addressing the
drug problem, said Dr. John P. Scanlon, medical director of the
Pikeville Medical Center's detoxification unit, Fountain of Hope.

"There's a tremendous need for residential treatment centers in
Eastern Kentucky," he said. "If you were to put 1,000 residential
treatment beds in southeastern Kentucky, it would not be enough."

The governor said the recovery centers could save taxpayers millions
of dollars in emergency room visits and jail costs.

"Housing recovery centers can be a major component of the state's
solution to tackling the drug epidemic," said Sylvia Lovely, interim
director of the Office of Drug Control Policy. "These centers will
help women and men recover from addiction, find permanent housing if
needed and help them gain control of their lives so they can be
productive citizens of their communities."

Fletcher said he thought the program would help reduce jail
populations. Of the 6,000 state prisoners in county jails, he said 60
percent to 70 percent were convicted of a drug-related crime.

"Many of our fellow Kentuckians are in trouble," Fletcher said. "Drug
abuse destroys families and careers. It impacts jails, classrooms,
health care and our economy. In fact, studies indicate that drug
addiction is one of the leading causes of homelessness in our state."
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MAP posted-by: Derek