By Julianna Parker Jones
Darshetia Abedour starting using drugs at age 16 and didn't find freedom from addiction until she was 29.
"I don't have to use drugs no more because of the state programs," she said. She spent 30 days at the inpatient Norman Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. There, she got help for her addiction as well as mental health medication. And it was all provided free of charge through the state.
"I wouldn't have been able to afford it," Abedour said. "NADTC saved my life."
Now, that treatment facility is threatened by state budget shortfalls and the mandatory cuts that followed. Last month, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services announced $7.3 million in budget reductions that would affect Norman agencies.
The plan is to merge NADTC with the Children's Recovery Center, creating a single facility that would keep the same number of adolescent beds but cut 60 adult beds and 40 children's beds. ODMHSAS would shed 100 jobs statewide.
The announcement has been understandably unpopular, especially in Norman where a large portion of the ODMHSAS jobs are located. Bob Hendley, who works in the refrigeration department at Griffin Memorial Hospital, said there's a lot of speculation going on at his workplace.
"It's pretty somber, you know, no one knows what's gonna happen and there's people that's been there many years that's worried about their job."
Hendley attended a meeting Thursday about the proposed cuts hosted by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. State Reps. Wallace Collins, Scott Martin and Lisa Billy and state Sen. John Sparks listened to appeals for the state services by Abedour and others helped by the agencies. They all expressed their support of the SDMHSAS and asked those in attendance to get the word out to other legislators how important these services are.
The legislators also answered questions about alternatives to the cuts. Many in attendance questioned if other alternatives were not looked into.
OPEA deputy director Scott Barger presented a dismal picture of the state budget. He said the state is experiencing a $1 billion deficit this year in a budget of $7 billion.
All state agencies have had mandatory 5 percent budget cuts for the past several months, but that's only a small part of the about 25 percent deficits actually being experienced, Barger said. Those deficits are being covered by the state's cash reserves, but those will need to be refilled with the state's Rainy Day Fund, he said. That makes tapping the Rainy Day Fund even less of a solution than most people realize, he said.
Cuts are necessary, but it's not written in stone yet what will actually be cut, Sparks said. He said he hoped the SDMHSAS would not have as large cuts as some other agencies because of the life-saving services it provides.
"From my experience with this department, there's not a lot of wasted resources" that could be cut, Sparks said.
He also pointed out that the Legislature cannot dictate how agencies spend the money allocated to them, although he said he intends to introduce legislation next year that would change that.
Martin agreed that once the legislative session convenes next year the state may need to move money around to cover necessary services.
"We are going to have to make cuts," he said. "The question just is where." He did not give any concrete solution for the budget shortfalls at ODMHSAS, nor did the other legislators. Collins suggested using the Legislature's discretionary funds to make up the shortfall, but said it's only a temporary fix.
"I know hard times may come next year, but so what?" he said. "If you starve to death this year, what good does it do you?"
Mary Jo Sullivan, an employee at NADTC said the cuts by the ODMHSAS will eliminate care for hundreds of people with substance abuse and mental health problems. There's no way to accommodate all those people in the state's other facilities, she said.
NADTC treats about 600 people per year in monthlong inpatient treatment programs.
"Of the people we treat, the vast majority of the people we treat are homeless," Sullivan said. Those people are then placed into home situations after treatment.
About 54 percent of those treated at NADTC already are in the criminal justice system. If they were not given treatment, they would end up in jails or in emergency rooms, where the public would pay for them in other ways.
"The long-term impact of this far outweighs the short-term benefits," Sullivan said.
Julianna Parker Jones 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com
