Strapped Salvation Army ends free drug addict treatment

Thu, Jul 31, 2008 (2 a.m.)

The local Salvation Army, citing a $2 million budget deficit, says it will no longer accept unpaid referrals for its substance abuse program from the criminal justice system.

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That could leave about 500 addicts a year, nonviolent criminals with drug-related offenses, seeking treatment instead at a single inpatient facility in Southern Nevada: WestCare, which has a long waiting list. The offenders had been participating in a 22-week residential substance abuse program virtually for free.

“It’s very unfortunate for the court system,” said District Court Judge Jackie Glass. “We never had enough beds to begin with.”

Glass said the cutback by the Salvation Army is a sign of tough economic times for the state, which funds the substance abuse program. There will be a trickle-down effect from the Salvation Army’s turning down referrals, she said: Jails and prisons will be more crowded and the overall costs of housing drug offenders will be higher. It’s much more cost-effective, she said, to help people become sober so they can hold down a job.

Officer Debbie Dreyer of the Nevada Public Safety Department’s Parole and Probation Division said if the addicts can’t take care of their substance abuse problems it is more likely they’ll continue to commit crimes to feed their habits.

Maj. William Raihl, who leads the Las Vegas chapter of the charity, said he’s sought funding from the federal government, the state and the county. Everyone listens, he said, but no one comes up with more funding.

“It’s like everyone understands the problem but no one wants to tackle the problem,” Raihl said. “Now we’re going to be forced to tackle the issue.”

The Salvation Army’s budget crunch is the result of rising costs, stagnant donations and a decrease in revenue from its thrift stores. The six-month inpatient program costs about $1.9 million to run and receives about $858,000 a year in public funding, about half of it from the state Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Agency. But public funding has been flat for the past six years, Raihl said. Meanwhile, the cost to run the program has climbed by about 30 percent.

The regional Salvation Army office helps the local charity pay its bills, but those loans have to be repaid, Raihl said.

About 1,600 people a year go through the rehabilitation program, and a third are referrals from District Court judges and the state Parole and Probation Division. In good years it was nice to provide free rehabilitation to the criminal offenders — who usually had been caught possessing drugs or committing burglaries to feed their addictions, Raihl said. But in lean budget years the referrals are “almost like a nail in the coffin,” he said.

Those who can’t get free services at the Salvation Army will have a hard time finding affordable treatment elsewhere. More than 2,000 people are on the state’s waiting list for such programs this year. There are about 375 substance abuse treatment beds in Clark County — 550 in the state.

The Salvation Army has 79 beds for men and 32 for women. Raihl said the program may be forced to reduce its number of beds in the future.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By neiman1

7/31/08 at 2:04 p.m.

Suggest removal

The state should have to pay for all costs of its mandated programs. If you get the "free" care out of our health system it would be affordable. Quit disguising taxes by cost shifting to the private patients and then pretending you don't know why health care is expensive. The State and Federal Governments are the real villains in the escalation. Don't fix my health care until you take care of all those you promised the freebies to.
By azsk8fan

8/1/08 at 4:37 a.m.

Suggest removal

Why should the state provide free rehab programs anyway - the only person it's truly free to is the drug addict because he/she doesn't work/pay taxes anyway...as for the working public it's certainly not 'free' to the taxpayers - it's just another drain on our taxes. Let those who made the choice to get high pay for their choice to come down - I , personally, don't want my tax dollars paying to rectify someone elses bad choices.
By alex629

8/28/08 at 5:07 a.m.

Suggest removal

Drug and alcohol is very serious illness in our society, we should try to remove it, and we should try to educate our society about its bad effect. If we talk about Symptoms of alcoholism then there is many symptoms such as addicts get slowly weak mentally, change in behavior etc.
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By abhiabhi

11/1/08 at 3:16 a.m.

Suggest removal

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http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/terms/B...
By tyagideepanshu

11/10/08 at 10:20 p.m.

Suggest removal

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