LACK OF STATE FUNDS MIGHT FORCE CLOSURE OF AGENCIES

Several Local Substance Abuse Agencies Could Shut Down Because of a
Denial of State Funding

Monday, the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse notified nine
programs in the Panhandle Substance Abuse Network, a part of the Texas
Panhandle Mental Health Authority, that they received evaluation scores
on their funding requests below 60 out of a possible 100. These scores
made them ineligible to receive state funds.

"For most of the providers, it is the majority of their funding," said
Tracy Griffith, Panhandle Substance Abuse Network director.

"Without TCADA funds," said Cynthia Creswell, director of the Amarillo
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, "we'd probably have to close our
doors."

Funding was denied for the council's adult and youth outpatient
treatment programs, which represents more than half of the agency's
business. Its youth intervention program was denied as well, she said.

The outpatient programs treat about 1,500 patients a year, she said.

"We'd also lose our screening and assessment program," Creswell said.
"That's our initial (program) where a patient walks through the door,
gets screened and assessed, then referred to whatever service is
appropriate."

Creswell said the council would be active for certain until Oct. 31.

TCADA granted all denied programs a 60-day extension to their present
contracts. During the extension, TCADA will initiate a new process to
find service providers in the area. Current providers can participate
in the competitive process.

"The council will go through the competitive process again and see if
we can get our funds back," Creswell said.

The AWARE program also lost TCADA funding for its HIV early
intervention program that provides services for HIV and AIDS victims
but received funding for its prevention programs.

The loss of TCADA funds would not in itself prove fatal for the
organization, representatives said.

"We're also funded through the Texas Department of Health, so that's
not going to impact us much. We'll be able to continue to serve our
clients," said Allen Graves, AWARE program director.

But the fallout from the loss of TCADA funds could still prove fatal
for AWARE.

"ACADA (Amarillo Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse) is our
administrative agency. If ACADA is not funded, and if we're not able to
find another administrative agency, we will not be able to exist,"
Graves said.

In such an event, Graves said, AWARE would pursue another agency.

Others were confident they would survive a loss of funds but not
without great difficulty.

"If we lose our TCADA funding, that is a big portion of our funding. We
would be drastically hurt," said Sharon Braddock, director of Genesis
House in Pampa.

Genesis house provides residential substance abuse treatment for youths
ages 13 to 17.

"We've been here 29 years, so I have faith we'll come out of it some
way," Braddock said.

This might mean changes in the way Genesis House operates, she said,
but it would survive.

One of the only agencies able to operate without TCADA funding would be
Northwest Texas Healthcare System's detoxification and outpatient
treatment programs.

"As far as our programs, we'll continue business as usual. It will
probably increase the amount of unpaid patients because that funding
source is gone," said Linda Stokes, director of psychiatric and
behavioral health services at NWTHS.

However, the shutdown of many agencies such as ACADA would affect their
programs, Stokes said.

"We won't have those resources to refer patients to. All referrals will
have to go to the southern part of the state," Stokes said. "I can tell
you their beds are usually full."