BUDGET LOSERS: 'BOOZER CRUISERS'

A new weakness is beginning to show in the front lines of the Salt Lake
area's fight against substance abuse.

Police have noticed it, people are reporting it and treatment providers say
it probably will get worse before it gets better.

Incidents of public intoxication are increasing, according to the state and
county substance abuse divisions. Treatment providers don't know by how
much yet, but they're pretty sure why: Volunteers of America Utah has
stopped running its two rescue vans.

"I saw a gentleman the other day being taken into police custody who I'm
sure would have been picked up by the van before police had to be called,"
said Pat Fleming, director of the Salt Lake County Division of Substance
Abuse. "I'm seeing that more, and people are telling me they're seeing it
more lately."

The "boozer cruisers," as they were affectionately known on the street,
were an important initial treatment for people who are homeless because of
their addictions.

The vans operated from about 4 p.m. to midnight seven days a week,
searching for people who needed help and offering them shelter and a chance
for treatment. Volunteer teams, along with paid staff, patrolled for people
and families on the streets, under viaducts, near railroad tracks and on
stream banks.

The vans are now idle to help offset budget cuts to substance abuse
treatment programs by the Legislature.

"We're just not going to be able to afford to have them out there this
year," said Jeff St. Romain, president and CEO of Volunteers of America
Utah. "The searches aren't happening, and we're already seeing an impact."

The buses were the only ones like them in the state. If someone became
unruly or was intoxicated, the vans could be called, often in place of
police officers who will now have to pick up the slack.

"We liked to think, and we were often told, that we were a help to
businesses," St. Romain said. "Many of the people who were in treatment had
their first contact through one of those vans, so we think it helped those
individuals as well as the larger community."

As effective as the vans were, they were just one part of the
organization's mission. Those with drug-abuse problems picked up by the
vans were brought to a detoxification center, a 60-bed residential facility
that annually houses more than 4,000 people.

Center residents attend 12-step meetings and are referred to substance
abuse treatment programs.

Volunteers of America also operates a 40-bed residential facility for
homeless mothers. That center grew out of necessity, because of the
dramatic recent increase in the number of addicted mothers and the fact
that they usually resist treatment if they are separated from their
children, St. Romain said.

Children who have been taken into state custody because of traces of drugs
found in their blood have been returned to their mothers because the center
provides housing and treatment.

"I hate that those vans aren't out there, but idling them was the best
immediate alternative to the cutback," St. Romain said.

The loss of the vans is compounded by the fact that this time of year is
always the high point for demand, Fleming said, noting that the division is
combing through budgets again to see if funding can be found. But with
another bleak revenue announcement and budgets likely again to be reduced,
finding money doesn't look like a real possibility at the moment, he said.

"It's troubling because if someone's going to relapse, they're going to do
it during the holidays right when it's the coldest out and the hardest time
of the year to be homeless," Fleming said. "If the vans are there, most
people would likely opt for a shelter and a hot meal they offer rather than
having a run-in with police."