EDITORIAL: CLEANING HOUSE

Reforms are needed for state drug agency

The problems the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse faced
during the mid-1990s are well documented. The commission was awash in
scandal for mismanaging grant funds for substance abuse programs. Too
many dollars were awarded to agencies with only minimal review of
contracts and little supervision.

After Gov. George W. Bush placed the commission under the control of a
state conservatorship board in 1995, many people assumed it would
emerge stronger with its dose of repentance.

Yet new reports indicate that the commission has started to backslide.
The commission followed a policy of awarding contracts to substance
abuse agencies that exceeded the commission's authorized budget.
Commission officials say they didn't think the rebuilding social
service agencies would be able to spend all their allotted funds.
"That's just stupid," replied state Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston,
during a January Texas House subcommittee meeting.

Mr. Eiland is certainly on target. Any thought that a social service
agency could not find ways to spend all its state money is naive, to
say the least. The extent of the damage from the commission's latest
financial miscalculations is chilling, too.

A budget shortfall of nearly $28 million has forced the commission to
cut funding to most of the 200 agencies it serves. To cite one
example, North Star, an important pilot project providing substance
abuse and mental health programs in Dallas and six other counties,
will be cut nearly $523,000 this year. Next year, the vital, but
fledgling program will lose $200,000.

The commission already has changed directors and said goodbye to most
of the budget planners involved in the overspending strategy. On
Wednesday, 39 more of the commission employees were dismissed to show
the state agency shares the pain of the programs that have lost funding.

Still, more actions can ensure the Texas Commission on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse has the close supervision necessary to prevent financial
problems from recurring. With the need for treatment, prevention and
training programs on substance abuse growing rapidly in Texas, there
is no room for confusion in the state's efforts. For example:Written
policies at the commission should spell out budget procedures in
clear, certain terms. Any failure to follow those procedures would
warrant dismissal.The state should expand the six-member commission
board to ensure the panel has enough financial expertise to recognize
when missteps are being made.

The state comptroller's office needs to provide a check and balance
system for the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The
commission continued to draw money from its account at the
comptroller's office without being warned that funds were running out.

The agency's new director, Jay Kimbrough, has an impressive record for
cleaning up troubled state programs. This newspaper hopes that Mr.
Kimbrough will act strongly enough to get the commission out of the
headlines and back dealing responsibly and effectively with one of
Texas' most troubling problems.

Estimates show that Texas provides state assistance to only about 10
percent of its substance abuse population. With such a low figure, the
Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse cannot afford any more misdeeds.