Guilford initiative targets substance abuse

By Anthony Allen
Policy Advocate

Following a survey showing that 85 percent of residents rank drug abuse as a top priority to be dealt with in their county, Guilford County commissioners formed a committee to begin tackling the problem of substance abuse among adolescents and young adults. The NCACC's Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee learned about the county's efforts from Guilford County Commissioner Kay Cashion during its May 11 meeting in Raleigh.

In December 2008, commissioners created the Guilford County Substance Abuse and Drug Treatment Committee and charged it with identifying needed areas of improvement to increase community responsiveness in the county's substance abuse and drug treatment healthcare continuum.

The committee began work in February 2009. Guilford County Chairman Skip Alston appointed Cashion as chair of the committee, which includes Commissioners Paul Gibson, John Parks, Carolyn Coleman and Linda Shaw along with various members from government, academic and medical agencies, and the general public.

The committee initially focused on prevention and early intervention for adolescents and young adults who are at risk or currently battling substance abuse disorders. Meeting monthly, the committee began identifying gaps in services and other opportunities for improvement in the existing continuum. Members of the committee visited residential treatment centers including TROSA in Durham County, Cumberland County's Communicare, and a juvenile drug court in Forsyth County to observe other approaches to substance abuse problems.

Substance abuse causes significant direct and indirect costs to the community. Direct costs include funds used for prevention, intervention and treatment efforts. Indirect costs include increased motor vehicle accidents, premature deaths, disability, lost productivity, unemployment, poverty and homelessness. The committee was tasked to identify prevention, intervention and treatment services for those with addictive disorders as well as services that could assist family members.

The Guilford County committee made the following recommendations:

• enhance or expand current prevention efforts through collaborative educational initiatives between the Guilford County School System, post secondary school systems, the departments of mental health, public health and social services, and local providers;
• expand prevention efforts to include use of social networking tools such as Facebook;
• target programs for health professionals on screening and referral through expansion of Guilford Training Academy; and
• launch a Web site containing a comprehensive resource directory of substance abuse prevention and treatment services and mental health resources in Guilford County.

Early screening and intervention recommendations centered around the creation and implementation of a pilot program to conduct substance abuse screening at child serving medical practices; the expansion of juvenile justice programs to include a Juvenile Drug Treatment Court and Family Court for Guilford County; and creation and implementation of a Family Justice Center to serve as a comprehensive access point for substance abuse and domestic violence services for residents in crisis.

Treatment recommendations included intensifying treatment services for youths housed at the Juvenile Detention Center; exploring possibilities of using the Juvenile Detention Center for longer term care for court involved adolescents with addiction disorders; and identifying and implementing best practices for after care/relapse prevention pilot program.

In other business, the committee:

• received an update on the Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders (VIPER) system from Thomas Caves, special assistant to Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Reuben Young, and Michael Hodgson of the VIPER Unit. According to Hodgson, there are 37,619 users on the VIPER network making up 186 emergency responder agencies. The statewide coverage plan calls for 241 sites – 146 of which are completed. Forty-eight sites are fully funded and under construction, and 25 sites are partially funded and awaiting Governor Beverly Perdue's proposed $4.7 million in state matching funds.
• set its next meeting for Wednesday, Aug. 11, in Raleigh.