FAIRFIELD COUNTY -- For the third time since November 2002, the Fairfield
County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board will ask county
voters to approve a 1-mill, 10-year property tax levy.
The
issue, which is scheduled to appear on the May ballot, would bring in
$2,875,000 for the ADAMH board and the services it funds, said Ed Laramee,
Fairfield County chief deputy auditor.
The
ADAMH levy appeared on the Nov. 2, 2002, ballot, where it was defeated
23,556 votes to 15,021. On Nov. 2, 2004, it was defeated again, with
33,081 voters opposed and 29,261 in favor.
Orman
Hall, ADAMH board executive director, sees promise in defeat: Those
figures prove 10,000 voters crossed over to the "yes" side.
"I think
we need to do a much better job of reaching out to people on an individual
basis," he said. "This is a process and we're going to work as hard as we
can. We're pretty optimistic ... that we're going to get an issue passed."
The
original ADAMH board levy passed in 1975, Laramee said, as a .75-mill
property tax levy. Over the years, in accordance with House Bill 920, that
amount has been reduced to a .13 mill property tax.
House
Bill 920 prevents property taxes from rising whenever property values go
up.
While
the money they receive is continually rolled back, costs continue to rise,
Hall said.
"Obviously, the ADAMH system has been struggling for quite some time due
to a significant shortfall of funds," he said. "The resources available
are much less than the state average and we see future reductions down the
road."
Many
ADAMH board entities have been forced to lay off employees, Hall said, and
implement waiting lists for their clients.
"We're
looking at a situation here where ... it's going to be very difficult for
us to provide anything remotely resembling an adequate system of care for
the citizens of this community," Hall said.
The
Recovery Center, which provides counseling services to those with a drug,
alcohol or mental health problem, has implemented a waiting list, said
Executive Director Marc Grodner.
"We
continue to have a waiting list that fluctuates anywhere between 15 and 50
people waiting to be assigned to a counselor," Grodner said. "We have made
every effort to manage that waiting list based on clinical need, but we
continue to be understaffed and not able to meet the full treatment. At
this point, what we're talking about are delivering basic treatment
services."
Anti-drug programs presented by The Recovery Center in local schools have
been cut back, Grodner said. Some schools took on partial funding of the
programs, but schools are also facing budget cuts.
"There's
far more demand for services in the schools than we can possibly provide,"
he said.
Services
at New Horizons Youth and Family Center, which offers assessment and
treatment to those suffering from mental illnesses, also have suffered
since the levy failed in 2004, said Chief Executive Officer Tony Motta.
"We've
had budget cuts from the ADAMH board, which has led to reductions in
clinical positions, which leads to longer waits," he said. "People can
still get in, but they're having to wait long periods of time. Their cuts
have hurt our ability to serve people."
New
Horizons serves approximately 4,000 Fairfield County residents per year,
Motta said. Those who are most affected are clients on their sliding-fee
scale -- clients who can't afford New Horizons' services because they
don't have health insurance or Medicaid.
"If the
levy passes, we will be able to increase our staff at least back to where
it was two years ago," Motta said. "It will reduce waiting periods and
allow us to serve people who need the sliding fee scale as well as the
general population."
The
Recovery Center and its clients will benefit greatly if the levy passes,
Grodner said.
"We will
be able to meet the existing treatment needs of the community, which we
cannot meet at this time," he said. "Secondly, we can begin looking at
expanding prevention and intervention services in the schools, and third,
we can begin to look at those services that do not exist in the community
-- detoxification or residential treatment -- and may be able to address
some of those service gaps."
Originally published Wednesday, January 19, 2005
