Not Enough Detoxification Beds

Tonight [Jan. 28] at the meeting of the Drug & Alcohol Commission, I raised the issue that there were not enough detox beds in Lancaster.

I had a young woman show up drunk at my church. I took her to Lancaster General, which is a block away from the church. She was refused at General because they do not have any detox beds. I was told to take her to Regional. I took her to Regional. Regional refused her because they did not have enough detox beds.

The woman had a large knife; and was threatening to kill herself. I called Crisis. The worker at Crisis that answered the phone told me that I may not "302" the young woman. The worker told me that Glenn McCarty, Director of Crisis, refused to authorize a "302" because the woman was voluntarily seeking help by coming to church; and allowing herself to be driven to the hospital. I was told by the hospital staff at Regional that I may drive the young woman myself two hours away if I wanted. This was when the young woman was drunk, and passing out. I had no idea of her criminal background. I was alone. The woman had a large knife which the security guard at Lancaster General handed back to her. I would like to know, "Why was it my job to drive the woman 2 hours away?"

I have also had a similar poor experience at White Deer Run. A woman had called a hotline. Two women spent three hours talking with this woman. The woman agreed she had a problem with alcohol. However, the intake person at White Deer would not take the woman, because in the intake person's estimation the woman "was not ready for treatment."

When I brought up this lack of service at the D&A commission meeting, my comments were dismissed as being off the topic. Mr. Kastner would not answer my questions about the effectiveness of current programs such as Gaudenzia, White Deer Run, the Gatehouse, and Lancaster County Prison.

At the meeting, Mr. Kastner was quick to introduce an increase in tax on beer. Mr. Kastner will introduce the motion for an increase on the tax for beer from $0.08/gallon to $0.16/gallon. He would like the entire increase to fund "education of youth about alcohol." He would like the entire increase to go to the Pennsylvania Association of County Drug and Alcohol Administrators. And that the money that is currently funding the Single County Authority not be diminished in any fashion.

I brought up the very pertinent research of Dr. Linda Frisman. Dr. Frisman has found that women that are placed in drug rehab tend to fail. Women, who commonly have trauma histories, that were placed in a single program that combined drug rehab with mental health and trauma counseling were found to be successful.

There is a very poignant case of a woman in Lancaster County. She spent nine months a year in Lancaster County Prison every year from the time she was 18 until she was 26 years old. She had substance abuse issues as she had sold enough illicit drugs in Lancaster to purchase and own a townhouse. It would seem more prudent for the County to place this young woman in ONE effective treatment program for nine months; rather than to foot the bill for her being in Lancaster County Prison for 7 years at $15,000/year. There ARE currently EFFECTIVE treatments available for men and women in Pennsylvania that have 85% to 95% success. Teen Challenge in Rehrersburg, Berks County, is one of those programs.

Mr. Kastner said that we have a drug court that handles these cases. This is NOT true. The Drug Court only handles a very limited amount of cases every year - about 75 at most at any one time. Mr. Kastner estimated that there were approximately 50,000 addicts in Lancaster County. There are 6,000+ people that go thru Lancaster County Prison in a year. Drug Court does not have the capacity to solve this problem.

The bureaucracy in Lancaster is greedy for more tax money, when they are not even effectively using the funds they are given now. The bureaucrats would rather see an addict go in and out of prison and rehab every year for twenty years; as it guarantees them a salary. It did not appear from the meeting that Mr. Kastner's salary was tied to the effectiveness of the programs, and the outcomes of those programs. A CEO that was in charge of a $2M budget would be more tightly reviewed by his board. I would ask that the long-term effectiveness of Lancaster County D&A programs be reviewed; and that Lancaster County examine better alternatives than incarceration for women that have substance abuse and mental illness.