CONSULTANT CRITICAL OF DRUG AGENCY

Alcohol and Drug Services' treatment program has "serious" issues
that create a "uniquely troubling situation," according to a
consultant hired to evaluate the county's substance abuse services.

Those problems include empty beds -- even though the consultant says
ADS isn't serving the number of addicts mandated in its contracts.

The report was commissioned by the Guilford County Substance Abuse
Coalition, a collection of citizens and 43 organizations associated
with alcohol and drug treatment. It followed a News & Record series
in November 2004 detailing Guilford County's 20-year battle with crack cocaine.

Officials estimate tens of millions of dollars are spent each year
battling the drug's devastating effects. No concrete dollar figure exists.

On Thursday, ADS Executive Director Charles Fortune called parts of
the report "wildly inaccurate," though he said the facility is only
50 percent to 60 percent full.

"He has a lot of personal opinions written into that that are not
based on solid information," Fortune said of the consultant's report.

ADS is a High Point-based alcohol and drug abuse treatment agency,
both inpatient and outpatient, where many low-income addicts first
turn for help. In 2004, ADS provided detoxification to 1,223 people
and served 768 people in its residential treatment program. The
inpatient service has 55 beds.

Consultant Jim Van Hecke, who is president of the Tryon-based
Addiction Recovery Institute, said in his report that ADS is a "state
of the art treatment facility." But he also identified problems with
its program.

"Its size and relationship to the county make it a uniquely troubling
situation," according to Van Hecke's report. "Whereas other service
providers have issues, none are as serious as the issues presented by
this program."

He cited the empty beds at ADS, along with "issues around acceptance
of and compliance with mandated mental health reforms."

Van Hecke said in his report that the county -- not just ADS -- was
serving less than 40 percent of adult substance abusers.

He also wrote that people he interviewed with long-term ties to ADS
felt the agency had "abandoned its original mission of providing
12-step treatment."

County commissioners allocated $5,000 for Van Hecke's report. He
declined to elaborate Thursday on his findings when reached by telephone.

His report, commissioned early last year, was submitted in draft form
to the coalition in August. Two months later, Van Hecke produced a
revised version that said ADS had made some improvements.

On Jan. 19, the coalition will present county commissioners with its
own report on local substance abuse services, which may include parts
of Van Hecke's findings.

George Coates, the coalition's executive director, declined to
comment on Van Hecke's report. He also declined to reveal whether the
problems Van Hecke identified at ADS will be included in the
coalition's final report.

Guilford County awards contracts for substance abuse services through
the Guilford Center, the county's department of mental health and
substance abuse.

As of July 1, the start of the county's fiscal year, the Guilford
Center had eight contracts with ADS worth about $1.7 million in
federal, state and county money, said Tana Wirtz, the center's
contracts manager.

About $287,000 came from Guilford County, she said.

Fortune criticized Van Hecke's findings on the unused beds, saying
Van Hecke "makes is appear ADS is responsible for the utilization."

"The utilization rates are determined solely by the funding, " he said.

Fortune said the Guilford Center, not ADS, controls funding. Fortune
also said Van Hecke is biased in favor of 12-step programs.

"(Van Hecke) likes 12-step programs, and when you have people in
treatment for three days for detoxification, it's hard to do," he
said. "He may favor that, but it's a bias he has. It does not mean
people are not receiving the detox program they need."

ADS had assets of more than $3 million during the 2003-04 fiscal
year, according to tax records. Fortune earned nearly $98,000 that
year, the tax records show.

Staff writer Nate DeGraff contributed to this report.