DRUG TASK FORCE FACING CUTBACKS

A task force that has arrested more than 2,400 drug suspects in
Eastern Kentucky the past five years and provided money for drug
treatment and education has laid off employees because of reductions
in its federal funding, and could face a cut in a counseling program
if it doesn't come up with more money.

Operation UNITE laid off 10 police officers and two other employees.
The task force had earlier left positions open in anticipation of a
cut in federal funding, said Karen Engle, UNITE president and CEO, so
the initiative now has 23 police officers, down from 40 officers at
its peak.

UNITE has been a significant initiative against the debilitating drug
problem in Eastern Kentucky the past few years, so the cutbacks are a
concern in the region.

However, Engle vowed that UNITE would continue its core mission. The
organization has applied for grants and is looking at other potential
money sources, including corporate sponsorships.

"We're not going away," Engle vowed. "We have tightened our belts and
restructured the organization so that UNITE can fight the drug
scourge over the long haul."

UNITE is still the biggest drug task force in the state, Engle
said.

U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers of Somerset, a Republican who
represents the 5th Congressional District, founded UNITE in 2003 with
a three-prong mission: arrest drug dealers, increase treatment for
addicts, and sponsor education aimed at reducing drug abuse.

UNITE stands for Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and
Education.

The initiative works through a variety of programs. In addition to
law enforcement, it helps set up community coalitions, sponsors
fishing tournaments and other activities for young people, promotes
drug courts and provides money for drug counselors in more than 40
school districts.

Rogers said he founded the program in response to a series of
articles in the Herald-Leader. Among other things, the newspaper
reported that Eastern Kentucky led the nation in the amount of
painkillers prescribed per capita, increasing the potential for
illegal diversion; that police in rural areas were shorthanded; and
that there was a shortage of treatment.

Randy Poff, a sheriff's deputy in Perry County, said there was a time
when the drug problem was beyond what local police could control, but
UNITE has had a significant effect on the problem.

"A couple of years ago, you could walk down Main Street here in
Hazard and have people ask to sell you drugs or ask to buy drugs from
you," Poff said. "But you don't hear of that happening now. Drug
dealers are scared that the person asking to buy is an undercover
UNITE officer. UNITE has really made a big difference at the street
level."

However, Poff and others said the problem is far from solved -- with
drug sales, overdoses and thefts by people looking for money to feed
an addiction still common.

Rogers, a powerful committee chairman when the Republicans controlled
the House of Representatives, got $8 million earmarked for UNITE each
year of its first three years and then upped that to $9.1 million in
2006-07.

However, UNITE got nothing for 2007 after Democrats took control of
Congress and suspended earmarks while tinkering with the system.

UNITE got through 2007 without major problems because it had some
carryover money, but in the budget President Bush signed last month,
UNITE received only about $4 million.

Rogers spokesman Jim Pettit said the lower earmark had nothing to do
with Rogers now being in the minority.

"It's a different fiscal reality this year and part of it has to due
with a budget deficit," Pettit said.

UNITE is still one of the largest line items in the U.S. Department
of Justice budget, Pettit said.

A year with no appropriation and then a big cut in what it was used
to getting meant UNITE had to cut back, however.

Pike County Sheriff Charles "Fuzzy" Keesee called UNITE's layoffs
"troubling and unfortunate," noting that drug cases can be
time-consuming and complex to put together.

UNITE won't be able to work as many cases with fewer officers;
communities will expect local police to take up the slack, but they
can't, Kessee said.

"We just can't do the job that UNITE does in fighting illegal drug
abuse. We don't have the money, the personnel or the time to even
make a dent in this war," he said.

In Manchester, churches, business leaders, bankers and community
members have joined forces to help pay salaries for two detectives
laid off from UNITE until the city can come up with money to pay
them, said Doug Abner, pastor of Community Church and a leader in
residents' efforts to fight drugs.

"We have come so far in this county, we just can't go back," Abner
said.

In addition to laying off employees, UNITE has changed the guidelines
so fewer people will qualify for treatment vouchers and cut the
grants available to community coalitions for projects from $10,000
every six months to $5,000.

UNITE has a contract to provide school drug counselors through June.
The agency has applied for a grant to continue the program and hopes
the state will help, but if new money doesn't come through, UNITE has
no funding for the counselors next school year, Engle said.

That program is a particular concern because it can help kids who
face drug problems at home.

"I know it's making a difference," Engle said.

Rogers, Engle and others also are trying to find other funding
sources for the program, such as corporate sponsorships and grants --
including one from the United Nations. UNITE is a non-profit agency
and has a foundation that can accept tax-deductible donations.

Another potential is to get money for some programs from federal
agencies other than the Justice Department. Officials also are
exploring whether Bush will include UNITE funding in his budget
request to Congress.

Engle met with the president in December and described UNITE's work
to him.