STATE INVESTS IN COMMUNITY TREATMENT

Montana's new year started with a forward-thinking initiative to
address hard-core drug addiction.

Montana has one state-run inpatient addiction treatment center,
Montana Chemical Dependency Center, in Butte. The program has
struggled (as have private programs and outpatient programs) to deal
with the epidemic of methamphetamine addiction over the past decade.
The need for inpatient addiction treatment for people who have little
or no means to pay has far outstripped the resources at MCDC. There's
often been waiting lists several weeks long to get into treatment.
Most meth addicts don't wait weeks for treatment; they just don't go.

But starting this month, the state is opening seven small, new,
long-term residential treatment facilities for low-income adults. The
first opened at Rimrock Foundation in Billings. All eight Rimrock
patient slots were filled on its first day of business, according to
Joan Cassidy, state Chemical Dependency Bureau Chief in Helena.

The Rimrock program and the others will be operated by Boyd Andrew
Community Services, a Helena-based nonprofit organization that runs
other treatment and rehabilitation programs in Montana. Boyd Andrew
subcontracted with Rimrock as well as with other providers around the
state. The programs in Billings and Boulder will be more intensive
than the other programs. Programs at Rocky Boy Indian Reservation and
Great Falls will focus on needs of American Indians.

Referrals to the new program are already coming in from drug courts,
state-certified addiction programs (which are located in each of the
56 counties) and probation and parole offices, Cassidy said.
Generally, participants will be nonviolent people with "minimal
criminal past" who are motivated to recover, she said.

Although participants will be billed for treatment according to their
income, most won't be able to pay all of the costs of the six-to
nine-month treatment. The 2007 Legislature and Gov. Brian Schweitzer
allocated $4 million ($2 million per year) to start the program. The
money is historic because it marks the first time the state has put
general-fund dollars into addiction treatment for people outside of
the corrections system. Previously, addiction services were limited
to whatever federal aid was provided and a share of state alcohol taxes.

The new program puts a priority on effective addiction treatment.
Significantly, this program can serve people before they land in jail
or prison. The potential for more cost-effective early intervention
serves the individual and the state's best interests.

By the time the 2009 Legislature convenes, the new programs may have
treated 100 addicts - Montanans who probably wouldn't get back to
health and work without these new community-based programs.