CASEWORKERS PROTEST CUTS THAT CRIPPLE DRUG, ALCOHOL AGENCY

Pickets Staged In Front Of Offices In Lehighton And Stroudsburg

Drug and alcohol caseworkers in Lehighton and Stroudsburg marked Addiction
Counselor Appreciation Day on Wednesday by picketing their own offices to
protest deep state budget cuts.

The Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission lost $917,000 in state
money this year and in response laid off six of its 50 employees, raised
fees charged to some of its poorest clients and eliminated most short- and
long-term treatment options, manager Joe Guardiani said.

''People are ordered by the courts into mandatory treatment, but there's no
money for the treatment,'' Guardiani said.

Treatment providers and their clients, along with law enforcement officials
and other social service providers, for months have protested a 90 percent
cut to the state's Human Services Development Fund that took effect July 1.

The $33.5 million budget cut was part of a broader continuing dispute
between Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature over how to eliminate a budget
deficit and fund Rendell's initiatives such as all-day kindergarten.

The state Public Welfare Department estimated in August that social
services budget cuts have resulted in 500 layoffs, 39 programs closing and
100 others having reduced capacity.

That has meant 29,000 people lost services, the state said. Some estimates
suggest 40,000 people could lose access to drug and alcohol treatments and
hundreds could be sent to prison instead of treatment facilities because of
the cutbacks.

In Lehighton, the small storefront that houses Carbon County's drug and
alcohol program now is open four days a week instead of five, and Guardiani
said new clients wait up to two weeks for a face-to-face evaluation of
their treatment needs.

He said the long wait has increased sharply the number of people who
request treatment but later don't show up for an evaluation.

Outside the Lehighton office Wednesday, Guardiani and five employees
marched with signs for an hour to protest the budget cuts and cheered each
time a passing motorist gave a honk of support.

''I've seen people not being able to get services they need,'' said
treatment counselor Kim Bonner, who carried a sign in each hand. ''We have
a sliding scale, but some people can't afford the treatment they need.''

Clients not eligible for medical assistance — felons, for example — now pay
a minimum of $15 for each outpatient treatment visit, up from $2 last year.

''If they have to come twice a week, that really adds up,'' Bonner said.

The commission is funding no long-term inpatient programs this year because
of the budget cuts, and there's only enough money to send about 10 people
to short-term programs that served more than 70 last year, Guardiani said.

Advocates hope that when a budget deal finally is hammered out, it will
include restoration of at least some human services funding.

''A lot of people just can't believe the depths of the cuts,'' Guardiani said.