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Rehab program leaders rebut complaints of inefficiency
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Lazaro Cardenas, of Rockville, shows his support for addiction treatment programs at the Montgomery County Council Office Building on Tuesday. – Eric Salzberg/For the Examiner
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Montgomery drug rehabilitation leaders defended themselves to council members Tuesday against allegations that residential drug programs cost too much and achieved too little.
Labor leaders urged council members last week to reduce or eliminate funding for the county’s residential drug rehabilitation programs, saying in a cost-savings memo that more than $5 million a year “is spent on programs that have yet to show any significant results.”
County government employees are trying to protect contracts that in many cases guarantee raises of about 8 percent for members.
Meghan Westwood, executive director of the Avery Road Treatment Center, told a packed room of drug treatment program advocates and the council’s Health and Human Services Committee that 83 percent of participants successfully complete the program she manages.
“We’re proud of that, the county should be proud of that. It is one of the highest, if not the highest rate of completion in the state,” Westwood said to resounding applause from numerous advocates touting signs that read “Treatment Works.”
Westwood also objected to a memo from Gino Renne, president of the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization, that said 40 percent of participants in her program do not have drugs or alcohol in their system when they are admitted.
Westwood said many people are admitted who show withdrawal symptoms but no longer have a substance in their system or who come to the program after detox elsewhere.
“To suggest we’re overfunding treatment is self-serving and irresponsible on the union’s part,” Westwood said, adding that residential rehabilitation programs are outsourced so union leaders may target them for cuts, knowing it won’t hurt their membership.
A union official at the meeting told council members their information came from union members who monitor contracts for the county. Data provided to the committee supported Westwood’s claims on completion rates but showed several other programs had completion rates of 32 to 56 percent.
Some drug rehabilitation program participants told The Examiner that contrary to Renne’s belief that rehab programs aren’t at capacity, they had to call for several days before there was room for them.
Avery Road Combined Care employee Laura Winton said she attended the meeting with many program participants to let county leaders know there are residents who will fight to preserve treatment programs as others fight to protect schools.
“This is a population that typically hasn’t advocated well for itself,” Winton said. “But when they hear of talk of making cuts to these services, they’ll be out there.”
kmiller@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:46 PM MST on Fri., Jun. 27, 2008 re: "Drug treatment program switches focus to retention"
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7:29 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 27, 2008
re: "Drug treatment program switches focus to retention"
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7:03 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 27, 2008
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6:57 AM MST on Tue., May. 6, 2008
re: "Critics say Rockville clinic ‘just doesn’t fit’"
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Gina said:
I am on this and it is WONDERFUL! LOVE IT! A life saver! I plan to be on it for at least 18 months. I see a private doctor and also go to a suboxone "group" twice a month. I used to take 30-35 10mg Lortab a DAY. I cannot tell you how great I feel now. I am on 12mg a day. It costs me a total of 500.00 a month for this program(doctor, med, etc). No insurance, worth every penny!
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NancyB said:
Heroin and painkiller addiction help. The naabt.org Patient/Physician Matching System has connected over 11,210 patients with at least one of 1,990 participating buprenorphine-prescribing physicians since 9/06. The naabtList.org free online service lets patients reach out for help 24/7 with complete privacy. Buprenorphine (brandname Suboxone) is a medication, combined with psychosocial therapy, which treats the medical condition of opioid addiction in the privacy of a physician’s office. FDA approved in 2002, this treatment has improved quality of life for patients and provided dignity to opiate addiction treatment. More information: naabt.org
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Examiner Reader said:
This makes perfect sense. Finally we are treating addiction like the chronic disease we know it is. Addiction alters the brain and it takes time to fix this. No 3 day detoxes will do it (as the science proves)we need to undo these brain changes so treatment isn't a revolving door for patients. Good article!
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Examiner Reader said:
This resident clearly hasn't seen the corners of every street filled with teenagers waiting for school buses every morning. There is smoking, swearing, and disposal of empty bottles and food in the most affluent of neighborhoods in MC. It is commendable that parents are supervising their children walking to schools, in light of the many children who disappear into cars with pedophiles, who, by the way, also live in the most affluent areas of their neighborhoods. Parents concerns should be focused on prevention of addiction and drug abuse by at least locking up their personal alcohol collections and prescription drugs, since the schools have been inundated with minors bringing these controlled substances into the schools and distributing them. Addiction and drug abuse does not "fit in" to any neighborhood, but it is prevalent and increasing at an alarming rate due to the residents burying their heads in the sand and keeping them there.
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