Teen Drug Use Up, but Rehab Centers Scarce

Experimental drug use among Ventura County teenagers is increasing, yet publicly funded treatment programs are failing to keep up with the growing need.

And those fighting the drug war say that getting more treatment facilities is one of the county’s greatest needs.

At present, there is only one six-bed residential treatment unit for girls and none for boys. Resources are so scarce, say therapists, drug counselors, judges and probation officers, that young people who don’t go to jail have virtually no access to drug treatment.

“It’s one big gap,” Ventura County Behavioral Health Director Stephen G. Kaplan said of substance abuse and drug rehabilitation programs for youths. “And within that there are gaps all over the place.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Miles Weiss, who oversees the juvenile unit in the district attorney’s office, adds that “nobody’s talking. Nobody’s coordinating. There is not a central place a kid could go, or a parent could call and say, ‘This is my kid’s problem, what should I do?’ ”

The shortage of treatment facilities and programs was not as significant in the past, when Ventura County’s distance from urban problems kept drug use among young people low. Now, while nobody is sure how many Ventura County kids are using drugs, law enforcement experts believe the number is growing. Judge Steven Z. Perren, who presides over Juvenile Court, says more kids are using drugs, and using them in a more determined, self-destructive way, than when he last sat on the juvenile bench in 1995.

“Now I believe it is a force that operates on them,” he said of the young people coming before him.

Supervising Deputy Probation Officer Michael L’Ecuyer said “the majority of kids on probation have some kind of substance abuse problem.”

Studies confirm what Perren and L’Ecuyer have noticed, that experimental drug use--defined as trying out a drug such as marijuana or cocaine out of curiosity--among teens is growing. But the increase in experimentation is even more marked in preteens, according to a poll conducted last year by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

Research shows that those who smoke marijuana and drink at younger ages run a higher risk of abusing harder drugs in the future.

Kaplan and others who work in schools, probation and the legal system say there is a desperate need for more programs to deal with the problem locally.

Currently, the county spends $1,178,000 on drug prevention and treatment programs for young people--only 20% of the total budget for drug and alcohol abuse programs. The lion’s share goes to adult substance abuse programs.

The Rainbow Recovery Youth Center, a six-bed facility for girls located in Santa Paula, is the county’s only residential treatment facility. There is a waiting list, says director Tracy Lewis.

The advantage of a residential facility is that a teen with a drug problem can be monitored around the clock and given intensive counseling.

Anacapa Hospital in Port Hueneme and Vista Del Mar Hospital in Ventura provide residential drug treatment for young people with insurance. But most kids in trouble don’t have it.

Lack of Space for Young Drug Users

There are three county-funded outpatient drug clinics--located in Simi Valley, Ventura and Oxnard. Each clinic has one adolescent counselor.

The private Palmer Drug Abuse Program in Camarillo also provides outpatient care to drug users for the county on a contract basis.

But Kaplan says demand for services is so great that clinics primarily see kids referred to them by the courts.

“We are trying to find space for kids so they don’t have to get in trouble to get help,” Kaplan said.

Ginny Connell, executive director of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program, says part of the problem is that parents, teachers and law enforcement officials are waiting too long to intervene in the lives of young drug users.

By the time they reach age 14 it is often too late. They are already committed to drugs as a way of life, she says.

Programs in every district need to focus on elementary and middle school children, Connell said, because drug experimentation often begins as young as 9.

“That’s the age they are beginning to use,” she said. “They are modeling their patterns of behavior on older kids. The kids that we work with that are 14 and older started at that age. They already have established patterns that are much harder to do something about.”

Supervisor Frank Schillo said his office has surveyed groups that work with youths, asking what additional services they would like in the county. While the answers have not been collated, “there’s no question in my mind that we do need help” with more juvenile drug-treatment options, Schillo said.

Recognizing that drug use is increasing among younger children, the county recently agreed to fund an intervention program in Santa Paula for kids between ages 10 and 14. The program, scheduled to begin in early November, will provide services such as one-on-one drug counseling and support group mentoring. Connell hopes it will be a model for the county.

County schools Supt. Charles Weis goes a step further, suggesting that antidrug education should begin in kindergarten.

“If we spent just a portion of the money we spend after kids get involved in drugs on helping them not get into drugs we would have a much happier environment,” he said.

No Policies, Just Prevention

Kaplan says the problem is partly political. Politicians, parents and even school administrators are reluctant to admit there is a drug problem in their school or home.

“There is lots of denial,” he said.

While programs such as DARE--Drug Abuse Resistance Education--are popular in schools, more aggressive intervention is not.

“There is not a lot of policy aimed at doing things for kids--other than prevention,” Kaplan said. “Once they [kids] don’t react to prevention, and they get involved, we don’t pay much attention. Our struggle is how to get those kids.”

Four years ago, Kaplan tried to set up a drug intervention program in the schools. For a $20 annual fee, kids would have had access to a range of substance abuse programs, from counseling to inpatient treatment.

Three school districts rejected the program outright, Kaplan said. At other schools, only a quarter of the students necessary signed up.

“Schools were saying we don’t have that problem at our school, we’re not going to do that program,” Kaplan said. “We’re not going to get our parents all upset.”

Now, school, probation, public health and legal officials are trying another tack, seeking funds for a teen drug court in Ventura. Such a program has worked well in Tulare County, and in Riverside, where officials recently went on a field trip.

How it would work is still under discussion, though it would likely involve more intensive probation, combined with drug counseling.

Even within the juvenile justice system, officials concede that drug rehabilitation programs are inadequate. A 1997 report calls for the county to create “as many as eight locked, long-term slots for mental health and substance abuse treatment,” as well as more outpatient substance services for kids on probation.

The report also called for more substance abuse programs inside juvenile hall and Colston Center--another juvenile facility.

Two west county parents, Leonard and Debbie Goldberg, whose daughter got heavily involved in drugs, were so astonished at the lack of rehabilitation programs for young people that they started a nonprofit group to deal with the problem.

The organization, Visions for Recovery is attempting to help children and adults with no insurance, or not enough, get into good substance abuse programs.

The Goldbergs are about to join forces with a treatment organization called CARE to buy a camp that would add about 30 residential treatment beds for county youths, said president and founder Leonard Goldberg.

Oxnard Assistant Police Chief Tom Cady, chairman of the Ventura County Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board, says the two main factors causing youth criminal behavior are substance abuse and gang involvement.

“Once you start seeing people involved in drug, alcohol and gang activity, chances really increase that they will have criminal justice contacts,” he said. “If we can address those problems and head them off, in the long run think of what we can save not just in money but in lives and families.”