LOCAL CENTER CAUGHT BUSH'S EYE LONG AGO

The Central Florida program that Noelle Bush sought for drug treatment is
well-known to Gov. Jeb Bush and his family.

Bush and his wife, Columba, began visiting the Center for Drug-Free Living
in Orlando before he took office, according to counselors. They have had an
ongoing interest in drug-prevention programs statewide.

"They've worked very closely with us," center spokeswoman Joan Ballard
said. "Columba has been a big advocate for prevention."

Founded in 1971, the center has grown into a $30 million-a-year collection
of residential- and outpatient-treatment facilities that treated 14,655
people last year in Orange, Osceola and Brevard counties.

Last February, Noelle, 24, joined a group home in west Orange County for
adult women suffering from substance abuse. She transferred from a
treatment program in Leon County, records show.

Center personnel would not comment on the governor's daughter, saying all
clients are protected by a privacy policy.

At the group home, the women live two to a room on a quadrangle around a
courtyard. The program was created partly to provide treatment to pregnant
and postpartum mothers.

The center's other facilities include state-funded Juvenile Justice
programs near SeaWorld in south Orange County and Intercession City in
Osceola County. Together they house 265 teen-agers younger than 18, Ballard
said.

Other center services in Orlando include a methadone program that daily
treats 140 men and women, a 36-bed program for adult addicts, a 40-bed
program for adolescents, and a 37-bed detoxification program to wean
addicts off drugs.

One of the most recent programs involves a series of "village houses" in
neighborhoods around Orlando where young people can stop in for counseling
and activities.

"It's a place for kids to come -- a lot of latchkey kids after school,"
Ballard said.