SUBSTANCE-ABUSE GRANT OFFERS HOPE TO TARRANT TEENS

The increase in drug overdose deaths among North Texas young adults in the
past year has frightened many of us. It is terrible to lose so many of our
children.

We must continue to support our police and courts in their efforts to
apprehend and punish those who prey on young people. Yet having said that,
many of us have struggled with questions about what we as individuals can
do to make a difference.

I was shocked to find that alcoholism and its combined effects are the
third leading cause of death in the United States. Eighty-seven percent of
10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders say they have consumed alcohol at least one
time in their life.

Nearly one-half of U.S. teen-agers believe that drugs and drinking are the
biggest problems facing their generation. These facts magnify the need to
do something.

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court and Challenge Inc. recently
announced the receipt of a grant from the Texas Commission on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse for the "Adolescent Recovery Project." The purpose of the grant
is to establish a facility that will house representatives from several
agencies to provide various phases of treatment for young adults with
alcohol or drug problems.

This project also will create a residential care unit, which Tarrant County
has been lacking until now.

This pilot project is the first effort to offer a continuum of care for
youths with substance abuse problems - all at a single location:

The Tarrant Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse will do the initial
assessment, referral and case management.

Tarrant County MHMR Addiction Services will handle the residential care,
and Santa Fe Adolescent Service will perform the day treatment services.

Family Service Inc. will perform outpatient services.

Challenge Inc. will coordinate fiscal and facility management as well as
agency coordination and community involvement.

The strengths of this collaborative effort are a smooth transition between
levels of treatment, care built around strong family involvement, and
familiarity between agency staff, patients and their families. A case
manager will be able to discuss a patient's status with staff members from
the various agencies who have dealt with the patient during each phase of
treatment.

This close communication will result in more effective and timely treatment
for the patients. It will also allow the patients and their families to
build an ongoing rapport with the caregivers.

The agencies have told us that approximately 65 percent of these kids have
other family members who are using alcohol or drugs. And yet when the child
is released from residential care, in most cases they are sent back home.

We must offer them a safe place to live while they are struggling to
overcome this addiction. We must assist them as they struggle in school and
as they work toward becoming productive members of society. Many of these
kids will relapse, and we must be there with open arms to show them our
love and our willingness to help get them back on track.

The TCADA grant will supply the seed money to begin the project. The center
will open around April 1 with 16 residential beds - which I am sure will be
filled almost immediately.

The project will need volunteers who can act as mentors, tutors and
teachers. We will also need volunteers to assist in developing public
awareness and support and to answer phones, drive vans and help around the
office.

The TCADA grant funds have a limited life - perhaps two or three years. We
must begin now as a community to ensure that the project continues and has
the funds necessary for expansion and future program development.

Our future depends on all of us pulling together as a community to offer a
helpful and loving hand to those in need. Tommy Taylor, who lost his
daughter to a heroin overdose last year, put it best when he said, "These
are not problem kids, but kids with problems."

For too long, we have waited for someone else to address these problems,
and almost every day we read of more deaths from substance abuse. The time
to make a difference is now.

Glen Whitley is county commissioner for Pct. 3. Volunteers for the
Adolescent Recovery Project can call Challenge Inc. at (817) 737-6535.
Contributions can be sent to 3001 Sanguinet St., Fort Worth, TX 76107.