AGENCIES LOOKING AT IMPACT OF METHADONE CLINIC

CHAMPAIGN =AD Several service agencies are looking at how to assess the
impact a methadone treatment facility would have on the community.

Kendric Speagle, executive director of Harm Reduction Resource, which
provides HIV prevention services, has proposed opening a methadone
treatment facility at 12 W. Washington St. in downtown Champaign.
Speagle met with representatives of Prairie Center, Provena Behavioral
Health and The Pavilion on Tuesday to discuss how patients of a
methadone facility might add to their caseloads.

A methadone clinic must provide drug treatment counseling, and it must
also provide referrals for other services, such as family counseling,
vocational training, emergency medical treatment or legal assistance.
Agency officials said they are concerned about how many methadone
patients they might need to treat and whether the methadone clinic
will be able to coordinate those services.

"We are a comprehensive treatment facility and clearly there would be
a need for access to services they could not provide, and they would
have to have a good working relationship with us to provide good
quality care," said Bruce Barnard, an associate director at Prairie
Center. "Also, there is some concern (about) the capacity in other
programs that are already stretched to the limit, such as residential
psychiatric services, hospital services, our residential services."

Sandy Lewis, CEO of Provena Behavioral Health, said clients of her
organization currently have to wait four to six weeks to see a
psychiatrist for a routine appointment, such as an assessment. They
must wait even longer for counseling.

"From the perspective of the mental health community ... there are
hundreds of people in Champaign County who suffer from mental illness,
not through their own choices but from an organic mental disease, and
the resources aren't there to provide everything they need," Lewis
said. "It becomes a very delicate balance to figure out, when this
community and this state has a given set of resources, where should
that care be devoted to."

Lewis suggested in-depth interviews with methadone patients who
receive treatment in Decatur or Kankakee to see what other services
they use, as well as talking with other methadone clinics.

"How many times do people using methadone also need to see a
psychiatrist?" she asked. "How many times, if a patient is terminated
from treatment, does he end up needing emergency medical care? How
many times do they need temporary shelter or affordable housing?"

Lewis said Speagle will be working with other agencies and the mental
health Local Area Network, a planning group for mental health
services, to gather such data.

Speagle said that by working with established agencies, he hopes to
ease concerns that he won't be able to sustain the operation of a
methadone clinic for the long term.

"I think by allying ourselves with established service providers in
town, we'll be able to allay fears and concerns people have about our
lack of reputation," Speagle said. "That's the main concern that most
people have, even more so than location. Even though location is a
contentious issue, the primary concern is that Harm Reduction Resource
is an unknown entity."

Speagle also said he is seeking representatives from other service
agencies to either serve on his board of directors or on an advisory
board.

Barnard said Prairie Center has not ruled out the possibility of
operating a methadone treatment facility itself.

"If the consensus of the community is that we are in the best position
to meet the needs of the community by providing that service ourselves
or with another joint provider, we certainly would consider that," he
said. "It is something we've talked about on and off through the
years, but never taken the steps to move forward and provide it.

"It's a significant undertaking, and methadone is one treatment option
that's available for heroin addiction. There are others," he
continued. "We have always used our efforts toward detoxification and
drug-free treatment, but it is certainly an acceptable treatment option."