In the News...
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Grants help aid substance abuse programs
By LISA CHAMLEY , Capital Journal Staff
Some of the best programs for substance abuse support exist in small church basements and tiny meeting rooms all over the country, as opposed to large treatment centers and hospitals.
The success of those groups is widely known but undocumented, said Donna Keeler, the executive director of South Dakota Urban Indian Health in Pierre.
Because no official documentation of their success exists, those organizations aren’t funded through state or federal means.
The Access to Recovery program announced by President Bush in 2003 allows grass-roots programs, such as faith-based and those centered on American Indian beliefs and culture, to receive some assistance in providing substance abuse support.
SDUIH is applying for the Access to Recovery grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency of the federal Department of Social Services, and hopes to become the hub of a network of those grass-roots support programs.
Under the Access to Recovery program, those programs that become linked to SDUIH will receive some sort of compensation for providing their support services.
This program will do two things, Keeler said. First, it gives those smaller programs a chance to get some funding, even if it’s minimal.
Secondly, it gives those needing services a greater chance to find something that better fits them, which would improve the success rate.
“There’s a lot of native traditional programs out there that have never met the codified description of substance abuse services, so they’ve never been billable services,” Keeler said.
In addition, many faith-based organizations like churches run counseling sessions.
“People know these kinds of programs work to keep people sober, or from not using, but there’s been no scientific base,” Keeler said. “We know these types of programs have really worked well, it’s just that they’ve never met the structured curriculum of being reimbursed.”
States run their own alcohol and substance abuse programs through grants from the federal government and from state coffers.
The states allocate those funds to certain “core” agencies for alcohol and substance abuse services.
In South Dakota, 13 agencies are considered core agencies and receive funding, though at last count, 58 agencies exist that meet accreditation requirements.
One of those agencies that has the proper accreditation but receives no funding is SDUIH.
Because every other state in the nation is in the same funding situation South Dakota is in, SAMHSA has wanted for years to find a way to get funding to those other organizations.
Perhaps the most important part of the grant is the choice of agencies it provides for those seeking alcohol and substance abuse support.
“This program will allow the client to be able to go where they want to go in this provider network,” Keeler said.
“It will just simply broaden the scope of who they can choose to go to and know there’s a reimbursement stream there, so they wouldn’t have to bear the cost all by themselves.”
Especially for American Indians, having the opportunity to choose a support program more in line with their culture and beliefs are expected to dramatically improve success rates.
“That is exactly what SAMHSA is hoping for,” Keeler said.
SDUIH is in the process of writing the grant application, which is due in early June. It could be several months before the agency knows whether its application has been successful.
While writing the grant, SDUIH is looking for grass-roots programs to include in its network. That has included putting advertisements in newspapers and otherwise getting the word out into communities that the opportunity exists.
Not every program that applies will be eligible to be part of SDUIH’s network. The grant is designed to meet the needs of the largest number of people possible.
Because SDUIH has three clinics, one each in Pierre, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, the SDUIH would run the Access to Recovery program on a statewide basis.
The grant is a three-year grant and progress has to be proven every year.
Keeler said that even if SDUIH does not receive the grant, the agencies throughout the nation that are given the award will be proving grounds for the concept that the community-based, grass-roots programs do work.
That could eventually open the door for more funding for similar programs, she said.
“Instead of kind of forcing them into a system, it’s allowing them to choose in a much broader system,” Keeler said. “The need is absolutely great out here, and this is just the first step, I think, nationally, to recognizing a new funding stream.”
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