DRUG ABUSE PROGRAMS GET $2.5M

A Federal Grant Means Help For Parents Who Are Hooked On
Meth.

Liliana Escalante began taking methamphetamine at age 13 to take her
mind off problems at home.

It wasn't long before the desire to ease her pain landed her in the
court system.

Today, Escalante, 18, is clean and looking for a new job so she can
provide for her healthy 3-month-old daughter, thanks to court-ordered
drug abuse treatment.

She credits her recovery with "knowing someone was there for me and
that I wasn't alone."

Several Hillsborough agencies are hoping to create more stories like
Escalante's.

Together, they have secured a five-year, $2.5-million grant to beef up
treatment programs and coordinate help for addicts, especially parents
who are hooked on meth.

The Hillsborough County Children's Board has agreed to contribute
another $88,000 annually.

The goal: To get parents cleaned up so they may be reunited with
children who may have been taken away because of abuse or neglect
caused by the parents' drug use.

"We are going to help put these families back together," said County
Administrator Pat Bean during a news conference Friday attended by
representatives of the court system, law enforcement, child welfare
workers and social service agencies - participants in the Children's
Reunification Services Collaborative.

Hillsborough County was one of just two dozen communities across the
nation to get the grants. Those at the news conference credited the
collaborative nature of the effort.

Officials with Hillsborough Kids Inc., the nonprofit charged with
coordinating assistance and housing for abused children in the county,
estimates that 70 percent of its cases have substance abuse at their
root. Cheap, highly addictive methamphetamine is growing as a drug of
choice.

While programs are in place to help users of meth and other drugs,
those involved in the system say there simply haven't been enough
resources to fight the scourge effectively.

The money will be used to create additional slots for inpatient and
outpatient treatment, additional drug screening and training for
workers. Addicts will have access to someone who can help them
navigate the treatment and hurdles they need to overcome in order to
be reunited with their children.

"This is a godsend," said Mary Lynn Ulrey of the Drug Abuse
Comprehensive Coordinating Office, one of the participants in the
collaborative. "I can't tell you how helpful it's going to be to get
people in the right space and with the right level of treatment."