COUNCIL ON DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE CERTAIN FUNDING CAN BE RESTORED

The Lubbock Regional Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse is confident it will
regain the United Way funding it lost earlier in the year after an audit
cited bookkeeping problems.

The council, which provides substance abuse prevention and early
intervention programs, operates with funding by United Way of Lubbock and
the state.

About $50,000, or 8 percent, of its annual budget of $800,000 comes from
United Way of Lubbock. The remainder comes from state funding and other
contracts. Roughly 80 percent of the state funding comes from the Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

Because of bookkeeping errors cited in the 1999 fiscal year audit, the
United Way of Lubbock board suspended funding to the council in June, said
Kirk Thomas, board chairman.

"What the board did was give (the council) a punch list of things we want
to see before we reconsider restoring their funding," Thomas said. "We are
prepared, if they meet those conditions, to reimburse them for the lost
period and to move forward."

Ray Coulombe, executive director of the council, said the problems stem
from a bookkeeping error that combined moneys from separate funding sources
as well as missing paperwork that could prove the funds actually had been
spent separately.

"Our audit was done very late last year, and there wasn't time to go back
and find the paperwork," he said. "Since then we've found it."

The council also receives funding from the Texas Commission on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse. Every three years the agency must compete for funding, but
changes in the application process and the council's low score in the new
process has jeopardized that funding.

Stephanie Goodman, communications director for the state commission, said
the application process "is stricter than in the past and did require
additional budget information."

Because the agencies that applied in this area didn't score high enough on
the applications, the state commission reopened the application process,
giving the agencies a chance to re-examine their applications and
strengthen each area, Goodman said.

The council was granted an extension that will allow it to operate while
the agency resubmits its application. If the funding is restored, it will
begin Nov. 1, Coulombe said.

"Our agency is still solvent and we're optimistic," he said. "We're writing
a very strong application. We've provided services here for 32 years, and I
think our chances look pretty good to continue."

Andrea Watson can be contacted at 766-8714 or awatson@lubbockonline.com