CADC TO HELP FUND PORTER COUNTY DRUG TREATMENT CENTER

Chesterton: Pathway Family Center To Get $100,000 To Expand Here

CHESTERTON -- The Community Action Drug Coalition Board of Directors
voted Wednesday to partner with the Pathway Family Center in
Indianapolis to bring an adolescent treatment center to Porter County.

The board was unanimous in supporting the partnership with Pathway,
but the vote to provide the $100,000 in seed money to get the center
started was 6 to 4. CADC Vice President Dr. Mann Spittler said some
board members were concerned because the coalition has only $95,000
in its bank account. Spittler said Pathway, whose board is expected
to vote on the agreement today, is willing to accept smaller
increments until the $100,000 is paid. The amount of those payments
and the timetable are yet to be worked out. CADC is funded entirely
through private donations and fundraisers and will be asking for
donations to fill the final funding gap.

"We need community support," said Karen Conover, a member of the CADC
board. "We need every community to step up and pass a resolution
saying they will support this. We need donations. We are tired of
children dying and we are tired of the jails being filled with these kids."

About 25 young people, ranging in age from 13 to 18 from Porter
County, have been treated by or are in treatment at Pathway, and a
major problem for families is transporting them back and forth to
Indianapolis. Several parents of adolescents and one man who
graduated from the Pathway program spoke up in support of the board's action.

Spittler said Pathway will work with CADC to find a place to rent
locally with 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. Eventually, Pathway will
need $1 million annually to operate its treatment program, which it
will raise after it is up and running and has developed a census of
patients, he said.

Pathway has been in operation for 10 years, and its in-house
treatment program includes the involvement of parents and siblings.
Teens live with host families during the first stage of treatment,
and Pathway provides medical care, schooling and counseling. It has a
10 percent recidivism rate as opposed to 60 to 80 percent for
hospitals and detention facilities, respectively.

The CADC contribution will get the program started, and it will be up
to Pathway to raise the remaining funds, but Spittler said the
coalition could raise money for scholarships to help people who can't
afford the cost of treatment and help with other donations.

"We won't drop them like a hot potato once we give them the money,"
Spittler said.