NONPROFIT GROUPS MUST USE GRANTS ONLY FOR DRUG TREATMENT

The local agency charged with providing treatment for drug users is
failing to deliver the necessary services, so Sen. Benjamin Cruz wants
to provide grants to the nonprofit groups on Guam that are providing
drug treatment.

The former chief justice's Bill 41 states that the Department of
Mental Health and Substance Abuse "has abandoned its mandated mission
relative to substance abuse." The need has been picked up by nonprofit
groups: the Salvation Army's Lighthouse Recovery Center, which offers
treatment for men; the Oasis Empowerment Center, which treats women;
and Sanctuary Inc., which provides services for adolescents.

The proposed legislation would provide annual grants to ensure that
there is a way to fund drug detoxification, rehabilitation and
prevention programs provided by nonprofit groups -- $200,000 each for
adolescent, male and female treatment programs. The bill doesn't limit
which organizations can apply, so any group that provides these
services could apply for the grant money.

Our community definitely needs quality drug treatment programs for
youths and adults. If the government is failing to provide it, the
least it can do is provide some financial assistance to the nonprofit
groups that do. From that standpoint, this bill makes a lot of
practical sense.

However, the language of the bill needs to be more specific in terms
of how nonprofit groups can spend the grant money. The way the
language reads now, the money simply goes TO groups providing drug
treatment; it doesn't specifically spell out that the groups MUST use
the money ONLY for drug treatment programs.

If the government is going to use money to ensure that a service
GovGuam doesn't offer is actually provided, it must specifically spell
that out in law. We can't leave it to the discretion of the nonprofit
group to use the money however it wants.

Let's ensure that these groups can spend the money only for
detoxification, rehabilitation and prevention -- and that they provide
a plan at the beginning and a transparent accounting at the end of the
grant that shows exactly how the money was spent.