Flat funding afflicts substance treatment

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Statewide, the largest population of substance abusers unable to access treatment falls in the Sauk Valley and its neighboring communities in northern Illinois, according to a survey funded by the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association. The report, "Waiting for Treatment: a Survey of State-Funded Treatment Facilities in Illinois, 2008" tallied waiting lists at state-funded care centers, sometimes hundreds of names long, and many of which turn away drug- and alcohol-dependent people seeking treatment because of a lack of staff and space. Nearly as many people north and west of the suburbs sat on waiting lists as those in Chicago and the collar counties combined, the report showed, and the number of people on those lists has risen 17 percent compared to this time last year. Craig Stallings, executive director of Rosecrance - a Rockford facility with the most clients and a 500-person waiting list, the region's longest - chalks up much of the disparity to a lack of care facilities in the area. "It's rough to turn someone away, someone who's motivated for treatment and wants help, to have to put them on a waiting list," Stallings said. Rosecrance treats about 5,000 patients a year for addiction and detoxification at its Rockford clinics, with some of those coming from as far away as Whiteside County, Stallings said. Sinnissippi Centers, which serves the majority of the Sauk Valley, has no waiting list, but a tight schedule can make securing appointments at convenient times difficult and is an annoyance for some of its clients, said Natalie Andrews, director of addiction services at Sinnissippi. "Right now, if someone from a priority population came to our door and needed treatment ... those individuals will be seen within 24 hours," Andrews said. "The rest of the population is seen within three to five days; elsewhere in the state, it could be within a month or more." Priority population is a subset of substance abusers identified for immediate treatment because of the impact on families and society. The group includes pregnant and postpartum mothers, women with children, Department of Children and Family Services-referred cases, families on state aid, and people released from prison. Sinnissippi spokesman Greg Gates estimates there could be as many as 9,000 substance-dependent individuals in the four-county area of Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside. National estimates are that about 10 percent of addicts seek treatment, Gates said, but there's no way to know for certain. The report's authors at the University of Illinois Chicago and the Illinois Alcohol and Drug Dependence Association, cite a lack of state funding as the primary reason waiting lists in northern Illinois have reached more than 2,000 people. IADDA is a Springfield-based group that lobbies lawmakers on behalf of substance-abuse treatment centers and advocates for treatment research. Rosecrance is an IADDA member. Stallings agrees that inadequate funding is the primary roadblock in reaching that segment of the population actively seeking treatment. The cost of treatment has increased "dramatically," while state funding has stagnated over the past three years, he said. At Sinnissippi, Andrews said a series of successful grant applications to federal agencies has helped stave off the flat funding from the state. An Illinois Senate bill introduced in February could boost funding for treatment centers by $41 million in this year's state budget and includes language that would eliminate waiting lists in state agencies while adding 6 percent inflation adjustment for private agencies receiving state money. "Thousands of people struggling with drug or alcohol abuse are unable to access crucial, time-sensitive care because the state is woefully under-funding treatment, and the situation is getting progressively worse without additional funding," said Sara Moscato-Howe, CEO of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association, which commissioned the survey. Although Stallings says he's keeping his fingers crossed, he recognizes the state's budget crisis likely could force the bill into the trash heap with other proposed funding increases. "At this point, it's really up for grabs whether or not that goes through," he said. Much of the reason the Dependence Association conducted the survey is a consensus that swift treatment vastly increases the chances for success, said David Olmsby, an agency spokesman. "We know the time to strike is when the iron is hot," Stallings said. Even when treatment centers can reach patients immediately, success rates can be limited. On average, a patient either drops out of treatment or relapses - or a combination of both - four times before completely breaking a dependency, Andrews said. Treatment centers also are seeing changes in the type of dependencies. Increasingly, patients are "poly-substance users," a clinical term for people who will use a series of drugs to achieve similar highs, depending on what's available and cheap, Andrews said. "I used to see someone come in and their only diagnosis was alcohol abuse. Now it's alcohol and pot or cocaine and methamphetamines; we're even seeing heroin creeping into the area," she said. Reach Sam Smith at 815-625-3600, 815-284-2222 or 800-798-4085, ext. 525.