County Criticized on Teen Drug Programs : Grand Jury Delivers 2nd Report in 2 Days Citing Ineffectiveness

County programs to prevent drug abuse among teen-agers are “fragmented and lack coordination and funding,” the Orange County Grand Jury said Friday in its second chastising of county government in two days.

The grand jury said the county is receiving less than its fair share of state money for programs to educate youths against alcohol and drug abuse. The report added that while volunteer groups provide programs, they receive little financial and promotional support from county government.

Prevention Urged

“Orange County has become one of the major areas of illegal drug activity in the country,” the report said. “Dealers are sophisticated and have significant sums of money to spend marketing their products.

“In the past, efforts in Orange County have been focused on rehabilitation and reinforcement of the fear of using illegal substances. However, multiple studies have shown that it is better and more effective to prevent substance abuse.”

The county Health Care Agency in 1985-86 spent just $809,000 of its $5.3-million budget for substance abuse on prevention programs, the report said. The county Education Department budgeted just $173,000 of its current 1986-87 instructional budget of $12.9 million directly on substance abuse prevention and education services.

In addition, the jury said many prevention programs are “geared toward fourth through eighth grades,” but there is a “perceived lack of funding for programs at the high school level.”

The grand jury urged the Board of Supervisors to “take a leadership role” in educating juveniles about substance abuse prevention by setting up a 12-member task force of elected city and county officials, school board members and police chiefs.

The task force’s goals would be to come up with a county plan to coordinate and promote programs to prevent substance abuse, establish priorities for programs, identify sources of funding and develop a system to evaluate programs.

The jurors also said the Health Care Agency should spend some of its money on a comprehensive program of information, referrals and technical assistance for abuse prevention.

Supervisors Criticized

The grand jury issued a lengthy report Thursday that sharply criticized the supervisors for failing to plan and to implement plans to solve major problems such as jail overcrowding, congested freeways and an inadequate airport.

The report repeated information from a past consultant’s study finding that the average state funding for drug and alcohol programs in 1984 was $1.90 statewide, but just $1.69 in Orange County.

County officials have frequently complained that state legislators have favored other counties at the expense of Orange on varied programs.