NO BOUNDARIES WHEN HELP NEEDED

Heroin: Addicts Cross County, State Lines For Assistance

For many addicts battling substance abuse, county and state lines do
not exist: They simply want help wherever they can find it.

This sometimes means crossing the state line and using a friend or
family member's home address to get needed services, which happens
often with Illinois residents seeking Indiana treatment centers,
local treatment officials say. Facilities in Lake, Porter and Cook
counties provide inpatient and outpatient programs for people
undergoing a substance withdrawal. But often, overwhelmed resources
can send patients far from home to get the support they need.

For instance, should the beds at Valparaiso's Porter hospital be full
or they are not admitted there, addicts seeking an inpatient program
could be sent about 18 miles away for treatment.

There, at Merrillville's Southlake Center for Mental Health, people
in search of help detoxing may be admitted to the inpatient program
- -- usually lasting three to five days -- or the outpatient track,
which generally requires more days, but fewer hours per day.

As with many programs, doctors and counselors assess a patient's
needs and recommend the appropriate treatment.

Some centers, such as Tri-City Mental Health in East Chicago, try to
make the long trek easier by providing transportation.

"Transportation is a big barrier in Lake County," said Brenda Comer,
service director of Tri-City's outpatient substance abuse center. "We
try to eliminate all the barriers that we can."

Some of those barriers include the ability to pay a lot for services,
Comer added. Many programs charge hourly and group or individual
rates, and most accept some form of insurance or will work with
patients to develop a payment plan.

Former Tri-City client Jerry Vasquez, of East Chicago, now is in
recovery after decades of substance abuse and several treatment
options. He has been a client in three different methadone clinics in
two states, he said.

"An individual's financial status is a big factor," Vasquez said
during an ongoing treatment retreat session. "If you have no
insurance, you have to go into a sponsored program."

Methodist Hospitals in Gary and Merrillville, for example, offers a
20-day partial hospital program, as well as an intensive outpatient
program, and accepts Medicaid.

Times staff writer Jerry Davich contributed to this report.