DRUG DETOX SITE PLEDGED FOR AREA

There is no place for long-term care south of Trenton. The governor promised
to change that.

TRENTON -- It was just two lines wedged into the middle of Gov. Whitman's
46-minute budget speech.

Barely noticeable. A small pledge for a drug-treatment center among the
billions for everything else.But for Susan Foose, sitting 25 miles to the
south yesterday in Marlton, Whitman's promise to help set up the first
long-term drug addiction center in South Jersey was a vindication. A
breakthrough coming a year and a half after her son Bryan died from a heroin
overdose one night after she had failed, again, to find a safe, affordable
living place where he could recover. "We have been pushing for a long-term
facility . . . for a long time," Foose said after Whitman's speech. "It's
time for everybody to be on the same page, because we're losing our
children."

Whitman did not mention a dollar amount. Day after day, month after month
since 1997, Foose and her co-crusader, Kathy Dobbs of Barrington, have been
making calls, sending e-mails, and showing up wherever Whitman spoke to get
their message across.

It wasn't until they cornered Whitman in Voorhees a year ago that the ball
got rolling. At first, Foose had been scrambling just to find out why so
many insurance companies would refuse to pay for long-term care for people
addicted to drugs, as her 22-year-old son had been. Then she discovered that
the only youths sure to get comprehensive addiction treatment were the ones
who committed crimes, landing themselves in the juvenile-justice system,
which makes sure they get it. Their complaints became a plea for action by
schools, police, prosecutors, caseworkers and counselors, eventually earning
Foose the nickname "Squeaky" -- as in "the squeaky wheel gets the grease,"
she said.Whitman's staff responded, she said, listening to the women of
Camden County who laid out one of the biggest problems: There was no
long-term refuge for recovering drug addicts in South Jersey. North Jersey
had a few places, and there were several in neighboring Pennsylvania. But to
the astonishment of Foose and even members of Whitman's staff, she said,
nothing existed south of Trenton for people struggling with drug
addictions.Foose and Dobbs enlisted the support of Sen. John J. Matheussen
(R., Gloucester), who was aghast that South Jersey had no long-term
center."I don't know why," Matheussen said. "I only know they're completely
lacking. . . . I'm happy to see that the governor has taken this up,
too."Local officials think they have now found a spot for the center, in the
Lakeland Institution in Gloucester Township, Matheussen said. It would be a
place where drug-users could live for up to a year, getting all the
counseling and inspiration they needed away from the environment where
addiction flourished. Organizers are still trying to decide whether they can
expand the Lakeland facility, and how much money to expect from the state,
the U.S. government, local donations or corporate grants.

The total cost could run to $5 million or $6 million.

But Whitman's commitment takes away a lot of financial uncertainty, Foose
and Matheussen said.