Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2006
Source: Metrowest Daily News (MA)
Copyright: 2006 MetroWest Daily News
Contact:  http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/619
Author: Jon Brodkin, Daily News Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

GRANTS AIM TO CURB SERIOUS SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Rising heroin use among young adults, adolescent drug and alcohol 
abuse,  and childhood obesity are three problems in MetroWest 
highlighted by a nonprofit group's latest round of grants to schools 
and social service  providers.

Increasing heroin abuse "is an issue that  everyone's struggling 
with...across the entire Framingham community," said Ellen 
Bruder-Moore, director of behavioral health services at South 
Middlesex  Opportunity Council.

SMOC was one of 22 local groups and government  agencies that 
received grants from the MetroWest Community Health Care  Foundation, 
which recently distributed $1.3 million as part of its 
ongoing  mission to bolster health services in the  region. Some of 
the largest grants address  concerns about substance abuse, as well 
as poor eating habits and physical  inactivity among youth.

Genesis Counseling Services in downtown Framingham,  for example, 
received $210,000 to expand outpatient treatment to those ages 12  to 
17 with drug or alcohol problems.

The Holliston school system was given  $100,000 to target risky 
behavior linked to mental health problems, including  substance abuse.

The foundation also awarded nearly $300,000 to  three groups 
attempting to prevent childhood obesity in Framingham. That  includes 
$75,000 for Framingham High School to keep a wellness center with 
exercise equipment open at night; $50,000 for the MetroWest YMCA to 
boost  after-school programs that promote nutrition and fitness; and 
$150,000 over  three years for the Trustees of Boston University to 
work with Framingham school  nurses to help parents make healthy food 
choices. "If you really want to deal with the  obesity issue, you 
have to talk with the people who buy the food," said the  foundation 
president, Martin Cohen. SMOC was  awarded $55,000 to expand a 
residential program that treats people ages 18 to 24  who are 
recovering from addictions to heroin and other narcotics. The 
program, for people who have been sober at least a month, already 
provides counseling and  case management services to help former drug 
abusers find jobs and  housing. The grant will allow SMOC to 
provide  an additional service called dialectical behavioral therapy, 
which helps people  respond to stress in positive ways, instead of 
turning to drugs. "Our biggest goal is to decrease the  potential for 
relapse, to help these kids redirect themselves into more 
positive  behavior," Bruder-Moore said. Genesis  Counseling Services 
was awarded a $210,000 three-year grant to start an  outpatient 
program for substance abusers ages 12 to 17 who are connected 
to  Genesis via the juvenile court system, public schools or the 
Department of Social Services. Although located in  Framingham, the 
new program is available to kids throughout MetroWest. It  provides 
group and individual counseling twice a week for 13 weeks, five 
random  drug tests, and two family sessions.

It is a good alternative for adolescents  who need substantial care, 
but not a residential service, said the clinical  director, Lisa 
Robideau. "Up until this point,  your only options in this area for 
treatment was to come to an agency like ours  once a week, or go to a 
residential program.

You didn't have a lot of in-between  (options)," she said. Clinicians 
at Genesis  Counseling Services have treated some kids who abuse 
prescription drugs, but the  main problems among adolescents are 
alcohol and marijuana, said Executive  Director Bill Horne. In some 
cases, adolescents  with undiagnosed attention deficit disorder use 
marijuana to medicate themselves  since the drug can slow their 
brains down to a normal speed, Horne  said. "The use of marijuana 
slows them down so  they feel kind of normal," Horne said. "I had a 
client say one time, 'My teacher  says I do better work when I smoke.'"
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom