INC NEWS - An epidemic in Durham

[pat carstensen]

I am posting this for Melvin.  Regards, pat

--------

Dear neighborhood leaders,

Durham Board of Commissioners (Chambers) Wednesday 31st at 9:00 -12:00 A.M

   Together we worked very hard to address the social ills of our 
communities. Most of us know that we must do more to save the human capital 
lost by Substance Abuse. The Durham Center are telling us that we have 
19,200 Durham County citizens are addicted to drugs or alcohol – A Durham 
County Epidemic. It's time to do something new and bold. The way we have 
always done things has not worked. We are the only major city in North 
Carolina that doesn't have a (14-30 day) In-patient Drug Treatment Facility. 
For every $1 dollars invested in treatment, there is a $12 dollars saving in 
reduced health-care cost, drug-related crimes, and criminal justice system 
cost. The cost of not doing what we can is shared by all taxpayers. Please 
come and add your voice for increase spending. A taskforce (Durham Substance 
Abuse Advisory Committee) has worked for two years and has adopted and 
presented to the Durham County Area Board of Mental Heath a report call 
Substance Abuse Ten Year Plan.  Our Area Board of Mental Health will ask for 
an increase spending for Substance Abuse on Wednesday before the Board of 
Commissioners. We support the plan’s goals to do the following:

Goal 1- Stimulate a Recovery Culture within the Durham Community.
Goal 2- Adapt Durham's nationally-recognized System of Care (SOC) framework 
to the substance abuse service delivery system.
   a. Creation of a comprehensive and integrated substance abuse continuum 
of easily accessible and timely community-based services based on national 
standards of best practice
   b. Development and maintenance of a service continuum with coordinated 
strategies for addressing co-occurring medical and mental health issues.
   c. Inclusion into this continuum of a "no wrong door to treatment" 
policy, with access to services that is accurate, engaging and timely to 
correct the current situation in which too few individuals and families 
access needed services and a 66% no-show rate exists for those that are 
scheduled for services
   d. Sufficient funding to subsidize a dramatically-under-funded system 
resulting in the capacity to offer a full range of services for individuals 
with addiction and substance abuse issues
   e. Establishment of a System of Care framework and a system that is 
seamless across service agencies to correct the current service system that 
is underdeveloped and fragmented between public, private and self-help and 
core services
   f. Development of programs designed to competently address the 
co-existing medical, psychiatric and social (housing, employment, etc.) to 
needed consumers

   I serve on the Area Board and we need your help and support. Again, for 
every $1 dollar invested in treatment, there is a $12 dollars saving in 
reduced health-care cost, drug-related crime, and criminal justice cost. 
Please come and add your voice for increase spending. Drug use is associated 
with a variety of negative consequences, including school dropout, poor 
judgment that leads to crime, violence, and unplanned and unsafe sex. Two 
year after bring this problem before the Durham County Board of 
Commissioners, the best public treatment for Substance abuse is still at the 
Durham County Jail. Please send this information to your network, call our 
County Commissioners and come and give your voice to this important work.

   The Durham Board of Commissioners will consider the Area Board of Mental 
Health budget asking for more money for Substance Abuse Wednesday 31st at 
9:00 -12:00 A.M. ...A Durham County Epidemic.

Your Servant
Rev. Melvin Whitley
2614 Harvard Ave
Durham NC  27703
(919) 596-9691 - Home
(919) 308-2844 - Cell
tellmelvin at nc.rr.com