LONGER STAYS SOUGHT FOR DRUG USERS

Two Illinois state lawmakers said they will propose legislation Monday
to remove incarcerated juveniles from a new managed-care plan that
might shorten their time in substance abuse therapy.

The Illinois Department of Public Aid will implement the health
maintenance plan July 1, and it could limit about 900 youths in state
residential treatment facilities and foster care to 20 days of drug
therapy, the officials warned. Experts, they said, believe treatment
for seriously drug-addled juveniles must last three to six months if
it is to be a success.

The officials complained cutting back on treatment will only enhance
profits for health maintenance organizations at the expense of
troubled children.

"This is not only wrong-headed, bad public policy, but it is also
irresponsible," said state Rep. Carol Ronen (D-Chicago), chairwoman of
the Illinois House Committee on Children and Youth.

She said juvenile justice authorities should decide when treatment
ends, "not HMO bureaucrats."

Also appearing at a Sunday morning news conference to endorse the
legislation were its Senate sponsor, Christine Radogno (R-La Grange);
William J. Hibbler, presiding judge of the Cook County Juvenile Court;
and Michael Darcy, chief executive officer of the Gateway Foundation,
which provides treatment to Illinois prison inmates and juvenile offenders.

If drug treatment is given short shrift, teens will not recover from
their habit and eventually will find their way back into the criminal
justice system, costing taxpayers additional dollars, Hibbler said.

"To believe we can have a quick fix for young people is illogical,"
said Hibbler, who estimated it costs about $32,000 per year to
incarcerate a juvenile delinquent.

A spokesman for the Department of Public Aid could not be reached for
comment Sunday.