GIVE TREATMENT CENTER A CHANCE

If the question were asked, "Do rehabilitation facilities benefit society?"
most people would answer "Yes."

However, when the theoretical becomes real, views change, particularly
among those who will be living next to such a place.

Not surprisingly, nearby residents to a proposed treatment center that will
help people with drug and alcohol problems - and that happens to be in a
residential home adjacent to Granite Elementary School - are asking the
Salt Lake County Council to prevent the center from opening.

Understandably, they're concerned about having the 16 clients the center
helps living in such close proximity to the school. Their concerns are
justified. They need to be assured and convinced that appropriate
safeguards are in place.

Representatives of the treatment center have met with neighbors to calm
their fears and explain the program. Social worker Ryan Salter said
patients will live in the house 90 days, then visit the facility once or
twice a week for a year. The center will have eight licensed staffers
during the day and at least one throughout the night.

As various rehabilitation centers and programs have been established along
the Wasatch Front they invariably have faced opposition. Every community
seems to have a "not in my backyard" attitude.

Inclusiveness is a natural by-product of freedom. Enlightened societies
take care of the sick as well as the healthy.

Rehabilitation centers do indeed benefit society. Some of the parents in
the Granite area recognize that, saying they welcome the facility. One
supportive parent had particular empathy for what the center is trying to
do, as he had a child go through a similar program.

The alternative to treatment and rehabilitation centers is either prison or
a society in which people with a variety of problems, such as substance
abuse, live on the streets.

Treatment centers do not cure all who enroll in their programs, but they do
provide a safety net for many that, on balance, is a plus for society.

Residents in the Granite area, as well as people in other places who may or
may not be near treatment centers, need to keep that in mind.