THE HIGH COST OF BATTLING HEROIN ADDICTION

Budget Cuts, Long Waiting Lists Batter Public Facilities

If your child is addicted to heroin, and you can't afford thousands of
dollars a month for a private drug treatment program, your only option
is to get on a weeks-or months-long waiting list for a publicly
funded program.

And those waiting lists are getting longer. Faced with an $11 billion
budget deficit, the state of Illinois cut funding for drug treatment
programs by 17 percent on July 1.

The Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association estimates the
cuts were far greater - an estimated 22 percent, or $24.1 million.

More cuts are looming, and with the state already behind on its
payments, association spokeswoman Sara Moscoto Howe said many local
drug treatment programs have been forced to scale back their services.

As a result, more than 7,500 people needing addiction services were
put on waiting lists this year, and that number could swell to 16,466
people in 2010, the association estimates.

Free or affordable drug addiction treatment is still available - the
state helped 90,000 people with substance abuse problems in 2009 - but
waiting for treatment can prove deadly, especially with a highly
addictive and dangerous drug like heroin, which police say is becoming
more popular in the suburbs.

More than 100 people have died of a heroin overdose in the suburbs
alone this year, a toll that draws far less public attention than the
79 deaths statewide from H1N1 flu.

The only alternative for desperate families that can't wait for
treatment is to pay out-of-pocket for pricey, private programs.

A privately run, residential drug rehabilitation center costs about
$30,000 for a 90-day program, said Mike Loverde, an addictions
counselor and interventionist with Family First Intervention in Orland
Park. A few swanky, spalike places in California cost more than
$40,000 a month.

Those who can't afford that - including middle-income families and
people with limited health insurance coverage - end up waiting, or in
some cases, doing nothing.

Suburban drug treatment center staff members say they want to do more
to help this problem but their hands are tied. While most facilities
are funded by a combination of sources, including federal, state,
county and private monies, the disappearing public funds are putting
the squeeze on them.

"It's extremely scary," said Dr. David Tews, president and CEO at
Serenity House in Addison, a 44-bed treatment center that receives
half its funding from the state. "We already ended our Spanish
program. Cut a program that helped families. We cut two full-time
staff members. And that was just to keep our halfway houses and
treatment center going."

Serenity House's waiting list is now about 20 people, Tews
said.

While fees vary depending on a person's circumstances, it costs
roughly $120 a week for room, board and counseling at Serenity House,
Tews said. By comparison, a private facility can cost upward of $2,300
per week.

In Illinois, the number of privately run drug treatment facilities is
growing while the number of public ones declines, the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services reports.

Private drug rehab can cost more than a college education, but Loverde
believes it's the best way to help someone struggling with a heroin
addiction. While many publicly funded drug treatment programs last 30
days, Loverde said it's important to take addicts out of their
environments and give them a minimum of 90 days to develop new
routines, followed by 90 days in a halfway house.

To try to do it any quicker, or to let the addict return to the old
environment and friends, usually spells disaster, he said.

He would know. Loverde, a Des Plaines native and Elk Grove High School
alumnus, ascended to a job with a Big 5 accounting firm only to end up
homeless and addicted to heroin. He said he went to short-term,
government-funded suburban programs 19 times before his family sent
him to a halfway house for six months and he got clean.

Phil Capone, a 20-year-old from Vernon Hills, recently completed a
year in a $5,400-a-month private rehabilitation facility in Arizona
and is now drug-free, living with his brother in Chicago, and "doing
great," his mother, Mary Jo, reports.

Regardless of income level, people struggling with addiction should
never feel like there are no options, said Pamela Rodriguez, president
of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, a statewide nonprofit
organization that helps people with drug and mental problems. She's
seen countless people use government-funded programs to kick their
drug habits and get their lives back on track.

"People are cutting back and reducing the number of clients they serve
. but services continue to be offered. You can get help. It's about
persistence. Yes, there are waiting lists. But keep at it," Rodriguez
said. "Don't give up. The treatment is out there."