ADDICT TREATMENT CENTERS FILLING UP

New No-Prison Law Will Have An Impact

Cheryl Davison celebrated her first successful stint in recovery Tuesday,
holding her two small children's hands and listening to tearful praises
from classmates at a South San Francisco drug treatment center.

She will soon be joined by many more recovering addicts. Under the state's
new treatment-not-jail mandate taking effect July 1, about 1,800 more
people will enter San Mateo County's drug rehab centers next fiscal year,
the county bar association predicts.

County treatment centers already are dealing with a 17 percent increase in
the number of people getting treatment in the last two years from Daly City
to East Palo Alto.

So Davison knows the public is watching. The 35-year-old San Mateo resident
voted for Proposition 36 in November, and she's doing what voters are
counting on -- transforming a methamphetamine-tortured life into one of
health and stability.

``I did it!'' Davison cheered, throwing her hands in the air Wednesday as
her counselor handed her a framed certificate and a book titled ``A Woman's
Spirit.''

``It's a struggle when you come into recovery and you really don't want to
be here,'' the former bartender-turned-supermarket bagger told the group.
``But it's either I do this, or I go to jail. I'm grateful I wasn't kicked
out.''

The number of people in treatment in San Mateo County has jumped from 4,137
in 1997-1998 to 4,856 in 1999-2000, officials reported to the board of
supervisors Tuesday -- just hours before Davison's graduation. It's not
because more people need help, but because the county put more money into
making treatment available.

The county's Human Services Agency notes significant increases in the
numbers of blacks, Latinos and Asian Pacific Islanders who are getting
treatment. Yvonne Frazier, the drug and alcohol services administrator,
says this is a sign that more diverse communities are being reached -- and
helped -- in culturally appropriate settings. Fifty-two percent of those
who get publicly financed treatment are white.

Even amid a growing client base, Frazier said, she is confident her agency
will be able to handle the impact of Proposition 36. The state proposition
mandates treatment instead of jail or prison for people arrested for
certain non-violent drug offenses, such as possession or use.

In San Mateo County, that means 35 more people a week will be referred from
the criminal justice system into one of 25 treatment and prevention
centers. The state will provide the county about $2.5 million for the next
fiscal year to absorb the new patients.

But the influx, both in residential treatment and in outpatient settings,
will stress an already stressed system with limited capacity to expand.

Residential programs will be particularly hard hit. At any given time, more
than 1,000 people are on waiting lists for live-in treatment. The county
won't know until later this year whether new treatment centers are needed.

At the Sitike Counseling Center -- where Davison will continue getting
follow-up care twice a week -- Proposition 36 will add 10 to 15 new people
to an existing patient base of about 750. The number of new clients could
quickly double, executive director Rhonda Ceccato said of her center, named
with an Apache word that means a group of non-kin who help in time of
crisis. Davison's kin, brother Charles Davison, was there for her Tuesday.

``I'll be right behind her,'' Davison, who is also in treatment, said.
``And she'll be right behind me.''