REHAB CENTER BETTER PLACE FOR ADDICTS THAN PRISON

From the street, the campus looks ordinary. A main building with
several adjacent manufactured structures.

The dwellings are situated behind a junkyard on Country Club Drive,
and the parking lot is in dire need of repair.

Welcome to the Country Oaks Recovery Center, where despite the
facilities, extraordinary work gets done.

Eric Stringfellow Country Oaks, like many nonprofits, is struggling to
survive. The center still needs money to pay its electric bills.
Public donations have reduced the amount from $8,000 to about $3,000.

The Jackson center lacks consistent money sources and has operated
without stability.

That's unfortunate, considering what the center means to its clients
and the community. This is not the kind of place the community can
allow to limp along or close. Group in need of help Country Oaks is a
full-service station for men wanting to rebound. It offers
rehabilitation for men with substance abuse issues. It also offers
mental health services since many of its clients have "dual
diagnoses,'' said Forea Ford, Country Oaks' executive director. "These
folks just don't have alcohol and drug problems," he said. "Many have
deep-seated psychological problems."

Vocational rehabilitation is another service offered at County Oaks,
which welcomes anyone, including those without insurance and who can't
afford to pay. That may explain some of its money issues. The
clientele consists of men who, according to Ford, are capable of
giving society headaches.

"A lot of these guys are not Boy Scouts, and we try to get them turned
around," Ford said. "These are lower-end people who are basically
committing a lot of crime.

"A lot of these folks don't have anything," he said. "They come to us
and say, 'I don't have any money, but I need your help.' " Country
Oaks needs help as well, from individuals and corporations, to help
these men remain free of drugs and crime and start working again.
Crime-addiction link The center's funding sources have included city
Community Development Block Grants, the state Department of Vocational
Rehabilitation and the state Department of Mental Health. It has
applied for a $740,000 federal grant but is not scheduled to receive
an award notification until late spring.

That could be too late for this critical service.

The correlation between addiction and crime is well-documented. The
assistance offered at Country Oaks not only gets potential criminals
off the streets and in treatment, but it also offers job training and
placement. It's also well-documented that many addicts currently
incarcerated would be much better off in rehab, a likely factor in the
corrections budget explosion.

More and more judges are turning to centers like Country Oaks as
sensible alternatives to prison. Those at Country Oaks include federal
parolees, state parolees and individuals sentenced in drug courts.

We also know that too many mentally ill citizens often end up in jail
because there are not enough options.

If Country Oaks folds, it's one less place for this group in need.
Investing in treatment today is less painful and costly than
tomorrow's convict.