Funding for Drug Programs Threatened

Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposal to reduce funding for alcohol and drug treatment programs in next year’s state budget has placed four Ventura County programs and more than a dozen jobs on the chopping block.

“It would be a huge hit to the system,” said Mark Summa, spokesman for the county’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, which administers funding for prevention, intervention and treatment services in the county. “More than 850 people would be directly affected by these cuts.”

Last month, the governor proposed eliminating Drug Medi-Cal, a federally subsidized program that covers the cost of substance abuse treatment for people who cannot otherwise afford it, administration officials said.

If the program is eliminated, the county would lose about $1.25 million, Summa said.

“That’s roughly 20% of our budget,” he said. “We would have to cut four of our 15 programs and reduce the rest by 5%.”

The county agency has already laid off 14 of its 75 workers in anticipation of the cuts. And plans for a new education program for 350 at-risk youths have been shelved.

The four programs slated to lose their funding are a foster care program for children of drug addicts, a counseling center for addicts and their families, a halfway house for women and children, and the only public detoxification program in the county.

“It’s a real shame because $1 spent on treatment now saves a dozen dollars spent on health care, criminal justice and welfare later,” Summa said. He said he hoped the addicts and family members could be absorbed into remaining programs.

California had hoped to keep Drug Medi-Cal costs down by capping the amount of money going into it, but last year a federal court ruled that anyone requiring the service must be provided with it, no matter the cost.

The program’s price tag, which was about $35.5 million last year, is estimated to cost more than $65 million this year because of the federal ruling, said Marci Fong, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

“The program keeps growing faster than we can fund it,” Fong said.

Sacramento plans to continue sending about $53 million to the counties for addiction programs but not through Drug Medi-Cal--a decision which could cost the counties at least $53 million in matching federal dollars.

But the cuts are not a done deal. The governor’s budget must still pass the Legislature, which has expressed reservations about eliminating Drug Medi-Cal, placing the suggested cuts in limbo for several more weeks, Fong said.

Diana Vogelbaum, director of the voluntary foster agency program Hope For Kids Inc. of Ojai, said she will have to close shop in a month if the county loses its funding. More than 90% of the agency’s $60,000 budget comes from the county.

“If we close, that means the 30 or so children we help every year will have to suffer needlessly,” Vogelbaum said. “Where will those children go?”

That’s a fear Maria Leyva of Oxnard knows well. She placed her children with Hope For Kids when she went through drug rehabilitation for heroin addiction four years ago.

“I only went to rehab because Hope For Kids promised me my babies wouldn’t be taken away from me forever,” Leyva said. “It’s the fear of losing your baby to the system that keeps women from seeking treatment.

“Taking the program away is like taking away our chance for a better life. Who else is here for us?”

Evelyn Foster worries about what will happen to her if Family Counseling Service of Oxnard, open since 1966, closes June 30 because of the anticipated budget cuts.

“I was a hard-core addict . . . .a garbage pail of drugs,” Foster said. “But Family Counseling Service has helped keep me clean for more than three years. They gave me confidence and self-esteem and now I’m getting my college degree.

“But I don’t know what I will do when they’re not there. I really don’t. It’s frightening.”