cannabisnews.com: Drug Screening Found Lacking 





Drug Screening Found Lacking 
Posted by FoM on December 04, 2001 at 10:28:37 PT
By Marsha Shuler, Capitol News Bureau 
Source: The Advocate
Less than 2 percent of all Louisiana welfare recipients have been referred for drug-abuse treatment since the state started screening people on welfare in 1998. That tells state substance abuse experts that there’s something wrong with the screening procedures. Nationally 20 to 25 percent of people on welfare have been identified as needing drug treatment. The screening consists of a questionnaire that attempts to get welfare applicants to admit drug abuse so they can be ordered to get help.
State officials acknowledged, when they started using the form three years ago, that asking applicants to confess might not be enough. The low referral numbers suggest they were right.So the state is launching a two-pronged attack aimed at getting better results rooting out drug abuse.Step one is a computer-based assessment of drug habits that’s gotten good results elsewhere.Step two is training welfare workers in how to better identify likely drug abusers. By early 2002, 10 certified substance-abuse counselors will be working with employees at welfare sign-up sites around the state.It’s all being paid for with $1 million in federal welfare funds — part of a $100 million array of nontraditional welfare programs financed by a decline in welfare checks."National research shows addiction is a real barrier to self-sufficiency," said Department of Social Services Assistant Secretary Ann Williamson, who oversees the welfare program.The idea is to get people off drugs so they can hold jobs, said Michael Duffy, who heads the Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Addictive Disorders.Welfare offices referring possible drug abusers is the first link in the chain. If his agency doesn’t get referrals, then people cannot get the help they need, Duffy said.The welfare funds will also allow testing for alcohol problems as well as drug addiction, Duffy said.Duffy said he has been talking to welfare officials for some time about doing more than the 20-question test designed to identify possible drug users.The test has been administered since the July 1998 implementation of a state law requiring drug screening for welfare recipients.The form, in effect, asks applicants for welfare whether they abuse drugs or alcohol.Questions include "How many times have you been drunk this week?" and "Do you have flashbacks?"Out of 124,567 recipients taking the test from July 1998 through October 2001, only 2,158 cases, or 1.73 percent, have been referred to Duffy’s office for further assessment and treatment, according to an Office of Addictive Disorders status report.Officials had expected more than 9,000 referrals annually.Only 667 individuals ended up in some type of drug treatment program.Another 1,141 of those referred never showed up for further assessment by substance-abuse specialists in Duffy’s office. People who don’t get the help lose their benefits.In October, there were 3,307 welfare recipients screened, with only 33 referred for further action.The federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds will allow the addition of a computerized test designed to prompt welfare clients to provide medical, substance abuse and legal histories on themselves.Actors come on a computer screen and the individual is directed to click on certain doors to visit the doctor, a substance abuse counselor and an attorney."It’s as if a clinician is sitting across the desk from an individual. But all of this is done automated through a product which gets a truer response because folks see it as a screen and they get involved in the process," Duffy said.There will be a multimedia version which can be used by individuals who may not be able to read, he said.At the end, there is a printout providing a psycho-social assessment with an addiction severity index score, Duffy said."I hope this new assessment procedure will lead to more folks who need the treatment receiving the treatment," Duffy said.Each computerized assessment will cost $5. Duffy estimates 15,000 tests will be given in a year. Every person deemed eligible for welfare benefit checks would undergo the screening and assessment process.Source: Advocate, The (LA)Author: Marsha Shuler, Capitol News BureauPublished: December 4, 2001Copyright: 1995-2001 The Advocate, Capital City PressWebsite: http://www.theadvocate.com/Contact: comments theadvocate.comRelated Articles:Unlikely Support for Drug Tests on Welfare App.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4054.shtmlJudge Blocks Drug-Testing of Welfare Recipients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3627.shtmlCannabisNews Drug Testing Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/drug_testing.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by i420 on December 04, 2001 at 13:32:40 PT
Coming thru in stereo
"National research shows addiction is a real barrier to self-sufficiency," said Department of Social Services Assistant Secretary Ann Williamson, who oversees the welfare program.The idea is to get people off drugs so they can hold jobs, said Michael Duffy, who heads the Department of Health and Hospitals Office of Addictive Disorders.This stereotyping must end we are not a bunch of losers, we got jobs, we have lives, we have homes, we are self-sufficient. People that I know who are not are drunks so go ban alcohol and LEAVE US ALONE
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 04, 2001 at 12:48:03 PT
The News
It seems like the mentality of drug warriors from a few years ago is popping up in all these different articles. Don't they read and learn that things have changed? Why do they hate people who use drugs when they do too. Alcohol, tobacco and even coffee are drugs. It's time to stop this narrow minded thinking and act like we should since we now are in the 21st century. They need to open their minds and think.
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Comment #1 posted by Dark Star on December 04, 2001 at 12:43:22 PT
Exorcising the Downtrodden
"The idea is to get people off drugs so they can hold jobs"No, it's not. It is to persecute the downtrodden, kick them out of public housing, deny them college loans, and get them off of welfare support. This guy should try to sell the Brooklyn Bridge.
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