GRANT TO FIGHT YOUTHS' SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Seven Counties Given $604,522 In Federal Money

Seven Counties Services Inc. has received a $604,522 federal grant to
bolster drug and alcohol treatment programs for youth.

The grant, one of eight awarded nationwide, is meant to expand
community-based systems of identification, referral and treatment of young
people with substance-abuse problems.

Such help is badly needed, Seven Counties officials said.

"Alcohol and drug treatment programs around here are woefully inadequate,
so this will be a welcome asset to the community," said Carol Carrithers,
vice president for marketing and communications at Seven Counties.

Seven Counties is the principal social services agency serving the indigent
and working poor in the areas of mental health, substance abuse and other
problems.

The grant's purpose, according to a federal news release, is to "help fund
an integrated system of care for youths and their families with a special
emphasis" on victims of violence who are in need of treatment.

To that end, Seven Counties has set out a series of goals the grant will
help to accomplish, said Emily Hutchinson, who oversees children's services
at Seven Counties.

They include:

. Establishing a system among clinics, hospitals and other substanceabuse
professionals so fewer people get bounced around from provider to provider
without getting help.

. Improving case management capacity.

. Constructing a transitional living unit for older adolescents who can't
return to a home where alcohol and drugs are used.

. Building a clubhouse where children can relax.

. Creating a board of lay people and hospital, clinic, church and other
personnel involved with substance abuse to address the problem from all sides.

"This will really build a partnership for the providers," Hutchinson said.

Seven Counties runs a drug and alcohol center for youth known as the
Lighthouse. The center has a twopronged approach of short-term inpatient
care and extensive outpatient monitoring of former users.

The Lighthouse is the choice of first resort for programs such as YMCA Safe
Place Services, a 24-hour open house for youths with problems, including
violence in the home, Safe Place executive director Dennis Enix said.

Rehab centers other than the Lighthouse tend to be too expensive for many
youths in the YMCA program, Enix said.

Children who abuse powerful narcotics, such as cocaine, are usually sent
directly to the Lighthouse, he said. Other substance abusers go through
what amounts to triage to determine the extent and cause of the problem, he
said.

"If use and abuse is a main stressor in the school or family, we're going
to make a recommendation to the Lighthouse," Enix said. "Any funds that
come in for programs like that are always welcome."

Charles G. Curie, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, said approximately 50 percent of youth drug and alcohol treatment
admissions are referrals from the criminal justice system. The grant from
Curie's agency will provide intervention to cut down criminal activity, he
said.

The award was announced by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson.

"When a young person has a drug problem, early intervention and treatment
are key to reducing the damaging effects on the child and the costs to
society," Thompson said in a written statement.

Grants also were awarded to programs in Michigan, Connecticut, Ohio,
Arizona, California, New York and Iowa.