UNIFIED EFFORT NEEDED TO ADDRESS SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS

The Kentucky Housing Corporation recently announced an initiative
throughout the state that may provide substantial substance abuse treatment
for the Owensboro/Daviess County region. Representatives from the KHC
presented this plan to a group of Owensboro treatment providers in late
November. It calls for construction of 12 homeless shelters throughout the
state and is one of the first major steps to implementing Gov. Ernie
Fletcher's plans to address issues of substance abuse in the commonwealth.

However, these are not your run-of-the-mill shelters designed to feed and
house the homeless. The programs offered in the shelters seek to address
one of the major causes of the individual's homelessness -- drug and
alcohol abuse. This program utilizes the recovery dynamics theory to
overcome an individual's addiction. This theory centers on a peer-to-peer
recovery system, which utilizes a system of mentoring and monitoring
substance abusers. Individuals participating in the program actually mentor
other individuals who are just beginning the recovery process. The
participants typically utilize Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous
as a component of their recovery.

This program is not a new concept. The KHC closely modeled its concept
after the Healing Place of Louisville and the Hope Center in Lexington.
Both programs maintain proven track records to assist people through their
addiction. The Healing Place indicates that of those who completed their
program, 65 percent remain drug and alcohol free for one year or more. The
Healing Place maintains over 1,400 alumni.

The substance abuse treatment providers, led by Community Solutions for
Substance Abuse, identified the need for such a shelter. Owensboro would
greatly benefit from such a program, as law enforcement frequently
maintains no choice but to arrest the homeless addict. This ultimately
leads to an increase in taxpayer costs to fund the jail. The mayor, county
judge-executive and jailer all point to the rising costs associated with
our community's substance abuse problem. State statistics show that 60
percent of inmates are addicted to drugs or alcohol, while 85 percent abuse
drugs or alcohol. Jailer David Osborne cited similar statistics concerning
the Daviess County Detention Center in statements announcing the GOALS
program, the jail's substance abuse treatment program.

Owensboro/Daviess County and the area substance abuse treatment providers
must join together to develop a common effort to seek funding for one of
these shelters. It is only through a unified effort that we will be able to
obtain these goals. Through the efforts of Community Solutions, our
community has made great strides to join together and collaborate resources
to fill the gaps in substance abuse education, prevention and treatment.
The recent development of the Lifeboat, and its efforts to create a
non-medical detoxification unit for addicts, raised concerns among some in
the substance abuse community. The Lifeboat proposal appears to be modeled
closely after the nonmedical detoxification facility component of The
Healing Place and the Hope Center. This would allow a sobering-up center
for addicts but would not supply the other recovery dynamics components of
the model. The Lifeboat was developed in the weeks prior to KHC's
announcement of its plans. The concept closely resembles components of the
proposal submitted by Community Solutions for the city and county Wellness
Initiative, a distribution of money representing the community's ownership
interest in the hospital. Community Solutions' proposal failed to receive
funding as concerns arose that it presented a duplication in services. That
same question, along with many others, surfaced as the Lifeboat and its
plans became public.

The concern is not whether such a program is needed in the community, but
whether a new nonprofit corporation is needed. Is there an existing agency
that already provides these services? Is there an existing agency that
provides some of these services which could expand to conform to the KHC's
model shelter?

Lighthouse Recovery Services Inc. is a local nonprofit entity providing
peer-to-peer mentoring and monitoring in a Christian environment to those
recovering from substance abuse. Lighthouse utilizes the recovery dynamics
concepts in its program. The local District Court judges frequently utilize
Lighthouse Recovery to provide a form of "drug court" or alternative
sentencing for criminal defendants of the court system. In fact, Lighthouse
maintains several employees who are graduates of The Healing Place in
Louisville. Would Lighthouse be willing to expand its services to fit the
model the KHC seeks to implement?

These questions must be asked and answered. No one individual or group
possesses the answer to our substance abuse problems. If an entity works
alone with its own individual goals and initiatives nothing will be
accomplished. However, if the community comes together as a unit, we will
make great strides and accomplish many more objectives than those we
initially set out to achieve.

The proposal for a homeless program focused on addressing substance abuse
was presented once in our community and was shot down because the community
acted individually. It appears Owensboro/Daviess County has another
opportunity for such a homeless shelter. We must present a unified proposal
or face a similar outcome.