CUTS ENDANGER DRUG PROGRAM

Of all the budget cuts still proposed at Lane Community College next year,
the one that makes me most nervous is the planned elimination of the
chemical dependency counseling program.

I'm not among the one in seven Oregonians who abuse drugs or alcohol. I
don't have a spouse, child or parent in that category.

But I still expect to be directly affected if this highly regarded program
goes away - particularly when there's already a shortage of trained
counselors in Lane, Douglas and surrounding counties.

I expect so because substance abuse already costs every Oregon man, woman
and child an estimated $1,000 a year in criminal justice and social program
costs, higher insurance premiums and inflated consumer prices from crime,
according to a 1996 state study. Because half of Oregon traffic fatalities
involve impaired drivers and 80 percent of Oregon inmates have a history of
substance abuse. Because 66 percent of Oregon children in state protective
custody have a parent with a drug or alcohol problem.

Finally, I expect so because treating substance abuse is almost six times
more cost-effective than arresting people for the consequences of it.

When you look at it that way, it's anything but financially sound to
eliminate this $160,000 a year program.

"It's a terrible loss," said Hillary Wylie, executive director of
Willamette Family Treatment, a private, nonprofit residential substance
abuse program. "There's a tremendous shortage of trained counselors already."

The Lane program is the only one south of Salem offering the basic courses
that students need to become certified as substance abuse counselors. And
the state requires licensed treatment programs to hire certified employees,
said Sylvia Rohnelt, director of the Pathways youth substance abuse program.

Counselors must also take 60 hours of training every two years to maintain
certification.

"That means spending treatment dollars to send our staff up to Salem or
Portland for continuing education, " she said.

Garri Oldham, director of the LCC program, said its graduates fill an
essential niche in the region's health care infrastructure.

"There's no talk of dismantling the nursing program," she said. "We are
also important - there are more than 37,000 people with substance abuse
problems in Lane County alone."

the University of Oregon offers a four-year counseling degree, but the two
programs in no way duplicate services, said Maureen Jenne, a former
treatment program director who serves on the Lane program's advisory committee.

The UO program is more research-based, she said, while graduates of the
two-year LCC program play a crucial role in filling the lower-wage,
in-the-trenches counseling positions in publicly funded treatment programs.

"The Lane students tend to be older, with more experience juggling
complicated lives," Jenne said. "More of them are in recovery themselves,
so they're a living example that it can be done, that it's worth the
struggle. Plus, they're generally more unflappable - they're not dismayed
or shocked by addict behavior, and they know the tricks of denial and
concealment."

The program's proposed demise is also bad news for some of Oregon's
youngest, most vulnerable residents, said Ruth Bichsel, a full-time faculty
member.

"Intergenerational drug abuse is a big issue in Lane County, and substance
abuse is the No. 1 indicator for child abuse in Oregon," she said.

That's why the state Child Welfare Program (formerly Services to Children
and Families) now hires drug and alcohol specialists.

One such specialist, Vince Lytell of the Roseburg CWP office, said he
doesn't know where rural Oregon counties will find trained candidates if
the LCC program closes.

"We're having a hard time finding qualified people now," he noted.

Patrick Stack, a first-year student in the program, noted a similar irony:
He learned that the program was targeted for elimination just after a class
in which he learned that rising methamphetamine use had won Lane County the
dubious title, "meth capital of the country."

"Why cut this program now?" he asked.

No one is questioning the program's value, said Steve John, an LCC
associate vic president for instruction. In a budget crisis such as the one
now facing the college, he said, many good and important programs will have
to go.

Advocates for this one have apparently succeeded in convincing officials to
again discuss whether it belongs on the chopping block, however.

The chemical dependency counseling program is back on the agenda when LCC's
executive team meets this afternoon.

"I wouldn't say we've decided to revisit the decision," John cautioned.
"But we have decided to discuss whether to revisit it."