Pubdate: Tue, 21 September 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
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Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Yolanda Woodlee, Washington Post Staff Writer

DRUG TREATMENT WITH PUBLIC FUNDS URGED

D.C. Council Member Also Faults Management Of District's Addictions Agency

D.C. Council member David A. Catania yesterday proposed using public money
to treat thousands of addicts at a facility of their choice, saying the
District's treatment program is poorly managed and is failing to do its job.

Under the plan offered by Catania (R-At Large), the District would create an
"addiction recovery fund" of $5 million to $10 million that would be used to
reimburse certified providers that treat substance abusers, forcing the
city's Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration to compete with
nonprofit and private providers for public funds.

Catania said the money for his proposal--which he said would be co-sponsored
by all 12 of his fellow council members--would be made available by
redirecting unspecified money in next year's budget.

"Once this program starts, I believe we will lead the nation in sensitivity
to the issue and in providing choice that will ultimately save the taxpayers
millions," he said.

Catania's plan is his latest blast at APRA; last week he complained that the
agency wasn't making good use of its $27 million annual budget and called
for the program's administrator to resign or be fired by Mayor Anthony A.
Williams. Catania noted that recently about 1,000 addicts were on the
waiting list for treatment at APRA.

"We're going outside the box to look for creative solutions" to drug
treatment problems, Catania said. "Rather than adding more beds, it's adding
sophistication and enhancing the spectrum of options provided."

APRA's budget has been raised to $32 million, but Catania fears the extra
money will not trickle down to addicts who want treatment. He said APRA
would receive more federal money if it applied for Medicaid certification.

Williams called Catania's legislation "a move in the right direction" but
would not say whether he intends to overhaul APRA. The mayor said yesterday
he would not publicly discuss personnel issues at APRA, and would wait to
see what his new health commissioner, Ivan C.A. Walks, recommends.

"I'm happy to see that the council agrees with me on how we deliver
services," Williams said of Catania's plan, which would follow a trend
established by the mayor's administration of using private firms to provide
services when government falters. "Our dollars ought to follow the requests
of citizens instead of institutions."

During a news conference yesterday at One Judiciary Square, Catania
described how two of his staff members posed as addicts to gauge the
reception people get when they seek treatment at APRA. One staffer posed as
an alcoholic, the other as a crack-addicted mother. He said the "alcoholic"
was told to come back next week, and the "crack addict" was told to return
at 6 a.m. the next day to wait for a bed in the city's treatment unit.

APRA staff's treatment was "callous and indifferent," Catania said,
particularly because he visited the agency and found 44 of its 145
residential treatment slots, about one-third, were vacant--despite the
city's waiting list for treatment. He said he found 46 percent of the
outpatient slots also were vacant.

"They're not getting people in their programs," Catania said. "Why does APRA
exist? It exists to empower individuals to overcome their addictions. It
does not exist for the philosophical benefit of saying the government
supplies the services."

Substance abuse is at the root of many of the District's criminal and health
problems and costs the District roughly $1.2 billion a year, Catania said.
Most addicts have multiple problems, such as mothers who also are suffering
from domestic abuse.

"It's no longer one size fits all," he said. "If you are a woman with
children and years of physical abuse, then you want to be in a program that
addresses the addiction and abuse."

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