Funding woes, not client demand, keep detox center closed

The fate of a former Houma substance-abuse clinic, which closed in 2006, appears to be sealed, despite protests from members of the Terrebonne Parish Council’s Community Development and Planning Committee at its regular meeting on July 9.

A rehabilitated former drug user who spoke before the council on June 27 also opposed the clinic’s closure.

The building formerly containing the Terrebonne Detox Center, located at 1116 Church St. in Houma, now houses the Terrebonne Parish Housing and Human Services Department’s Head Start Program.

The Detox Center was the only non-profit substance-abuse clinic in Terrebonne Parish serving low-income residents, besides the state-run Terrebonne Alcohol and Drug Abuse Clinic on Legion Avenue in Houma.

At the council’s June 27 meeting, Houma-resident Katherine Batson, who said she has been clean for 15 years, told the council that the Detox Center should be reopened. Batson said she works with addicts and alcoholics.

When the Detox Center was open, the facility helped to cut down on crime, she said.

“There are addicts suffering,” she said. “Alcoholics are human beings. I’m concerned with my brothers and sisters suffering from addiction.”

Batson did not appear at the committee’s meeting on July 9 despite the fact that parish Housing and Human Services Director Darrel Waire sent her a letter informing her that the committee would discuss the closure of the clinic at its meeting.

Councilwoman Christa Duplantis, who is a registered nurse, said the state has millions of dollars available for mental health programs, but that Terrebonne Parish lacks a plan to tap into the money.

The Detox Center “falls under mental health,” Duplantis said. “It’s a shame the program can’t be here. We have a lot of people who need it.”

“In the state, we need detox (facilities),” she said.

Duplantis directed Waire to review the closure of the clinic.

Addressing the council at its regular meeting Wednesday night, State Sen. Reggie Dupre told Duplantis that money is available to “redo” the clinic in Terrebonne Parish. He also said that additional beds have been opened in the psychiatric unit at Chabert Medical Center in Houma.

Duplantis told Dupre, “We can’t expect you (the state Legislature) to have a plan.”

“I won’t give up even after I’m out of office,” said Duplantis, who is serving her final term on the council. “Mental health in Louisiana is getting worse.”

Waire said the Detox Center was used primarily to treat substance-abuse clients until space became available at the long-term Fairview Treatment Center in Morgan City. Fairview, which is a 50-bed inpatient chemical-dependency treatment facility, accepts payments from clients based on income level and other factors. The facility contracts with the state and federal government to provide services.

Beginning in 2003, Housing and Human Services had contracted with the non-profit START Corporation to run the Terrebonne Detox Center, but START opted out of the contract in 2006 because of a lack of funding and because the company had lost its certified licensed counselor, Waire said.

Terrebonne was using $34,000 to $40,000 a year of parish general-fund money to run the facility, he said. If the parish had continued running the Detox Center, costs may have risen to $100,000 to $150,000 a year, he said. The state paid Housing and Human Services $35 a day for each client, but Waire said the rate had been locked in for years. The state money “never caught up with the cost of operating the clinic,” he said.

The facility required two persons to be on staff during operating hours, but it had only one staff person available at night, Waire said.

“To gear up the staff was more than we could afford,” he said. “Funding was an issue.”

In 2006, Housing and Human Services looked at contracting with a non-profit other than START to operate the Detox Center, but the contract may have cost Terrebonne Parish even more money, Waire said.

Part of the difficulty Terrebonne Parish experienced with funding the Detox Center stemmed from the fact that the clinic had to accept clients from parishes outside Terrebonne. Because the clinic was receiving state money through a regional funding mechanism, Terrebonne Parish had to accept those clients.

Thirty-five percent of the clinic’s clients were Terrebonne Parish residents. Some of the clients came from as far away as New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Housing and Human Services sought in vain for funding assistance from other parishes whose residents were using the services of the Detox Center, Waire said.

Adding to the difficulties experienced by the clinic was the high number of clients with Hurricane Katrina-related mental-health problems. Waire said that after Katrina, the clinic saw an increase of clients having dual diagnoses, which are substance abuse problems combined with mental disorders.

Housing and Human Services had an earlier association with START. Shortly after 2000, the department contracted with the non-profit corporation to develop an affordable housing subdivision for low-income persons, and to manage and operate the Beautiful Beginnings Homeless Shelter.

The structure housing the Detox Center was built originally to hold classrooms for the Terrebonne Parish School Board. Then, it was used as a government building.

The parish government and state jointly operated the clinic before 2003. Clinic staff persons were employees of parish government.

“The need is there” for the Detox Center, Waire said. The clinic closed “because of a lack of funding, never because of a lack of clients,” he said.