DHS DRUG TESTS DUE FOR CLIENTS

Failure To Comply With Treatment Could Result In Loss Of Welfare.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Welfare clients will soon be required to take a drug test
to get benefits, said Howard Hendrick, Department of Human Services director.

In the middle of March, the DHS will require those applying for welfare and
already receiving it to take a written exam designed to determine if they
have the propensity to use drugs, Hendrick told the Commission for Human
Services at its monthly meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

If the exam is positive, they will be required to take a urine analysis, he
said.

A substances abuse treatment program will become part of the client's work
requirement to get the client help, said Raymond Haddock, DHS division
administrator for family support services.

If the client fails to comply with the treatment program, the client could
be sanctioned or dropped from the welfare rolls, Haddock said.

The state adds about 2,000 welfare cases a month to a base of about 14,000
cases, Haddock said.

However, not all the cases involve adults, Haddock said.

The department plans to do follow-up drug testing on clients, Haddock said.

"If they test to have a problem with alcoholism, we can request they do
those things (treatment)," Haddock said. "If you are an alcoholic, you have
to abstain from that. We would require they abstain from that. They are not
going to be successful with their work plan."

Clients already receiving welfare will also get tested, Haddock said.

The written exam will determine if the more costly urine analysis will be
administered, Hendrick said.

The department expects to receive some criticism from clients, Haddock
said, adding, "We are on real sound footing. This is the next logical step."

Haddock said it is his understanding Oklahoma is the first state to
undertake such a measure on a large scale.

Hendrick said social workers in one county estimated that about half their
clients were involved in drug or alcohol abuse.

The department already does literacy screening on welfare clients, Haddock
said.

In unrelated action, the department is considering privatizing three
centers that provide services to the mentally ill and developmentally
disabled.

The Greer Center in Enid specializes in serving people who have a dual
diagnosis of mental illness and mental retardation, said Jim Nicholson,
department division administrator for the developmental disability services
division.

The Greer Center has 169 employees and serves 52 clients, he said.

The Northern Oklahoma Resource Center in Enid has 157 clients and 604
employees.

The Southern Oklahoma Resource Center in Pauls Valley has 207 clients and
604 employees.

All clients live at the centers, Nicholson said.

The department's goal is to reduce a waiting list for those who need
services in the community, Hendrick said.

One DHS program serves hundreds of people in the community, but the waiting
list for the program also has hundreds.

The department hopes to reduce the waiting list by shifting resources from
the centers to the services needed at the community level, Hendrick said.

"The connection is that the facilities are very expensive," Nicholson said.
"The current per diem cost per day is $400 per person. The belief is they
can be operated less expensively with no decline in the level of service.
The savings that result can be used to fund services for people who have
been waiting for them."

"The three facilities combined have a budget of $62.7 million of which 70
percent comes from federal funds, Nicholson said.

But plans to make changes have some parents concerned. Some parents believe
their children are best served in the facilities, rather than being placed
in community settings.

Since 1996, the population at the three facilities has been reduced by
about 140 by providing services to former residents who were mainstreamed
into community settings.

The department plans to submit an invitation to bid on privatizing the
operations, Hendrick said, adding that it may not get a response.

Hendrick said the department's goals are to reduce the waiting list, treat
employees properly and to provide some certainty as to the fate of the
facilities, which are sitting in limbo.

In unrelated action, Steve Bailey, commission vice chairman, said the DHS
will kick off its child abuse prevention campaign on Feb. 10 in Oklahoma
City's National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

The campaign is a partnership between the private and public sectors,
Bailey said.