State Budget Buts To Eliminate Drug Treatment Centers

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by SheRico Jones

State Representative LaShawn K. Ford recently held a press conference opposing the portion of the state of Illinois 1.5 billion dollar budget cut that will directly affect the poor and the disadvantaged. As part of the budget cut, funding for human services such as homelessness prevention, drug and alcohol treatment, senior programs and circuit breaker programs could be eliminated altogether. Ford states that this will have a devastating impact on communities that already experience high rates of poverty, unemployment, crime and addiction.

Thats the same of it, Ford said. The poor and disadvantaged are targeted in this situation. I guess the weak are always the easiest to push over because they cant fight for themselves. Why is it so easy to treat those who need help most so badly?

The press conference was held on May 22nd at A Safe Haven Foundation located at 2750 w. Roosevelt road on the citys west side. The facility provides healthcare, life skills education, job training and placement. Rep. Ford chose to hold the conference at this location because it is an example of an agency that provides emergency shelter programs, addiction treatment services and housing support.

At the press conference several citizens who utilize the endangered programs spoke. Human services may face cuts of over $500 million, according to a press release. Funds for addiction prevention and treatment will be cut by more than 50%, leaving Illinoisans to pay 7 to 9 times more for emergency room visits, legal fees, and prison stays.

For every dollar that we spend for prevention, we save the state $14, Ford said. It costs $4000 to treat but $22,000 to incarcerate someone. These cuts will also result in the loss of about 5000 jobs because most social service programs are employers. If these programs are cut, they are going to lay people off.

Ford has long been a proponent of health and safety issues and he says budget cuts to programs that provide addiction treatment services, job training and placement, and housing support will have a devastating impact on the community.

Over 50% of substance abuse service providers have gone out of business in the last two years, and prisons are overflowing with the consequences, A Safe Haven Foundation President, Ms. Vazquez-Rowland said, A Safe Haven Foundations ability to serve as a crisis center will continue for now, but without this funding those resources will also be in jeopardy.

According to Treatment Solutions Network, state-funded treatment programs provide necessary treatment for addicted patients who often arent able to get help anywhere else. If community-based treatment centers are eliminated, Illinois would see a huge increase in drug addicts on the street. If these programs cease, people will start turning to emergency rooms for treatment, which will cost tax payers more money in the long run.

Ford is issuing a call for his fellow legislators to protect the funding for these services.

By providing effective services, communities can stabilize and begin to achieve economic growth, he said. Failing to provide services will only result in greater costs down the road. We must invest in programs that have been proven to reverse the stranglehold that poverty, crime and addiction has held on neighborhoods.

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