AGENCY GETS $1.5 MILLION

Adolescents With Substance Abuse History to Get Help

Richmond's public mental-health agency has been awarded a three-year, $1.5
million federal grant to provide residential treatment for low-income
adolescents with serious substance-abuse problems.

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, the agency designated to coordinate
publicly funded mental-health services in the city, will receive the grant
in $500,000 annual increments.

"We proposed [providing for] up to 12 new kids per year in residential
treatment, immediately followed by intensive outpatient treatment with
intensive case management across the spectrum," said Dr. Jim May, director
of substance abuse services for the RBHA.

It was one of 17 programs nationally selected to receive a grant in the
round of funding from the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Typically, the RBHA has had only enough money to provide residential
treatment for five to six addicted adolescents a year, though many more
apply for help.

The cost for such care limits the ability to do more.

Three months in a residential program can cost $20,000, May said.

"We obviously burn up what we have budgeted for that before the year is
over," he said. "We are very conservative about using that."

The agency gets about 15 to 20 referrals a year for the residential help.

Many of those come from the juvenile-justice system.

"You can talk to any of the probation and parole officers" in juvenile
court, May said. "They will estimate 60 to 80 percent of kids involved in
juvenile court have substance-abuse problems

"There are a significant number who are outright addicted at this early
stage in their life."

They are clients like a 15-year-old male who has been abusing marijuana
since he was 11 and alcohol since 14, RBHA officials say.

The young man has been through several outpatient-treatment programs but has
relapsed each time.

He also has been diagnosed with depression. That dual diagnosis of addiction
and a mental-health disorder makes him especially hard to treat.

"On the bad side, the earlier they start using, the quicker they become
addicted and the longer they stay addicted," May said. "On the other hand,
the earlier in the process you intervene, the more likely you are to have a
positive outcome."

Some medical evidence suggests that chemical substances such as cocaine and
alcohol cause changes to brain chemistry that make recovering from addiction
difficult. Research also indicates that some people have biological traits
that make them more susceptible to become addicted than others.

The RBHA program, called Project MAATCH, will provide clients with 90 days
of residential treatment. The program includes outpatient care and case
management for up to two years.

Only children who live in Richmond and who meet income guidelines will be
eligible.