 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Prevention / Treatment Update -
General McCaffery visits Puget Sound Treatment Projects By Steve Freng |
Oct 1999 |
|
|
General Barry McCaffrey, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, visited the Puget Sound region on Monday, October 4 in order to officiate and recognize the initiation of two innovative treatment projects. He began the day in Tacoma in order to preside over the opening of the Breaking the Cycle (BTC) project. BTC is a 3-year, $3 million demonstration grant funded by the National Institute of Justice and operated by Pierce County Alliance. One of only four such projects in the nation, BTC follows a successful pilot project that was implemented in Birmingham, Alabama, and represents the culmination of many months of planning and development on the part of Pierce County Alliance, the Pierce County Superior Court, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney, the Pierce County Department of Assigned Counsel, the Pierce County Sheriff and the Washington State Department of Corrections. BTC is designed to integrate drug and alcohol treatment with criminal justice supervision for adult felony offenders in Pierce County. It’s goals are to: reduce drug and alcohol abuse throughout the community; reduce recidivism on the part of substance abusing offenders; promote more effective use of the justice and treatment systems; improve offender compliance with court-ordered conditions; and increase the proportion of offenders completing substance abuse treatment. These goals will be achieved by screening every felony arrestee for indications of substance abuse within 48 hours, following which eligible offenders will be ordered to participate in BTC by a Superior Court judge. The BTC Alternatives Center will then provide substance abuse assessments, testing, day reporting, case management and individualized treatment services until treatment has been successfully completed and acknowledged by the Court. General McCaffrey devoted the entire morning to a series of events organized around the opening of the BTC Alternatives Center, the principal facility and cornerstone of the project, the physical plant for which was completely remodeled by Pierce County Alliance specifically for BTC. He addressed a large crowd of dignitaries, well-wishers and media representatives, toured the facility, met staff, and spoke very highly of the efforts required to implement the project as well as the potential it holds for major impacts on the Pierce County community. He then traveled to Seattle to spend the afternoon at Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS), an agency that has gained national recognition for quality service delivery and research in the area of opiate substitution treatment. In addition to a reiteration of ONDCP support for opiate substitution therapies such as methadone, LAAM and other medications now under development, General McCaffrey reviewed the ETS Mobile Methadone project. One of only three such services in North America, the Mobile Methadone project entails a large, specially detailed van that can travel throughout the Seattle-King County area in order to broaden the availability and accessibility of services. The van represents the service capacity of a freestanding methadone clinic, stopping at Public Health clinics on a scheduled route Monday through Friday, and providing dosing services, medical supervision and counseling interventions to registered patients. General McCaffrey also took advantage of the opportunity to speak with substance abuse policy makers, researchers and service providers during a roundtable discussion that included several topics related to drug addiction, treatment strategies and policy initiatives. He met with faculty and staff of the University of Washington and the Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center as well as state and county administrators and ETS clinical staff. Each participant, at both venues, expressed appreciation for General McCaffrey’s interest and viewpoints, and thanked him for his ongoing support and advocacy in pursuing the National Drug Control Strategy. Inside this issue |