“Double-Talk on Crack,” or Right on Track?

The News & Record published an editorial on Sunday, Nov. 18th, questioning the approach and mission of the county’s planned new substance abuse treatment center, scheduled to open in 2008. The editorial quotes local drug treatment providers and advocates who express concerns about the qualifications of the provider chosen by the county, and about whether or not the new facility will provide the long-term residential treatment for indigent clients that county commissioners committed to previously.

In a follow-up counterpoint on Friday, Nov. 23rd, Guilford Center Director Billie Martin Pierce describes in detail the process by which the treatment provider was chosen and how the treatment center proposal came about. Pierce details the weaknesses in the county’s current treatment services, as discovered by a 2005 coalition report, and explains how this system will be rebuilt into a system of excellence, using scientifically proven best practices. Pierce says that the treatment provider the county chose has specialized training, experience in planning and implementing drug courts and is “known for innovative outpatient and residential treatment.”

I agree with the providers and advocates who want the county commissioners to provide the long-term residential drug-treatment for indigent clients that they originally planned to fund. But I also acknowledge that there is a continuum of recovery treatment services, and that there’s no “one size fits all” recovery model. And advocacy is a part of the system of excellence that Guilford Center is building. GASARA will be a component of the new system.

I am hopeful about the possibilities for recovery that the new treatment center will bring to our community.