CHANGES IN DRUG TREATMENT RULES COULD YIELD MORE CRIME, CRITIC SAYS

SPRINGFIELD - A McHenry County high school student said Wednesday he has
successfully fought an addiction that led him to run away from home and take
money from his parents to finance his insatiable drug habit.

But it was a victory that only came with a lengthy stay in a rehabilitation
center. And now some advocates worry that potential new state regulations
could cut short the time juveniles can spend in treatment.

"I have a history of running away, breaking the law ...," said Dan, 17, a
sophomore from Crystal Lake. The center "has helped me and my family a lot
because I'd steal from them, run away, get high and come back and do the
same thing over and over again."

Dan, who was speaking at a Springfield news conference, has about two weeks
left of his 180-day rehabilitation program at the Gateway Foundation, a
nonprofit facility that has juvenile drug treatment programs in Lake Villa,
Springfield, Carbondale and Chicago.

Dan is in the Springfield facility, but is ready to leave and start planning
for college.

Michael Darcy, executive director of the Gateway Foundation, said it takes
time to get children off drugs.

That's why he fears a proposal to require Medicaid clients to get their drug
treatments through a health maintenance organization. Darcy said HMOs
sometimes limit drug treatments to 20 days, but he says it takes more time
for drug treatments to be successful. For instance, he said, the average
stay at the Gateway Foundation is 120 days.

"When these children are released onto the streets after a few days of
treatment, they will use drugs and commit crimes," Darcy said.

Medicaid currently provides about $13 million annually for juveniles
receiving drug treatments, of which Gateway Foundation receives about $8
million.

To ensure that the system remains the same, state Rep. Carol Ronen, a
Democrat from Chicago, and state Sen. Christine Radogno, a Republican from
La Grange, introduced legislation to prevent any restrictions on where
Medicaid patients can get drug treatments.

Ann Patla, director of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, said the
current policy is under review, but that does not mean that the agency will
require all juvenile Medicaid patients to go through an HMO for drug
treatments. Juveniles now are able to go through a private community
provider for drug treatments and no decision has been made to change that
policy, Patla said.

Gateway Foundation and community providers rely on the Medicaid money for
funding because the average income of patients at Gateway is $8,500 per
year, Darcy said.

If the state requires juveniles to go through an HMO for drug treatment,
organizations such as Gateway Foundation may lose some of their Medicaid
funding, Darcy said. HMOs may choose to hire out private community
organizations, but they also have the option of treating patients at other
sites.