Pubdate: Mon, 25 Feb 2002
Source: Athens News, The (OH)
Copyright: 2002, Athens News
Contact:  http://www.athensnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1603
Author: Nick Claussen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

COMMISSIONERS QUESTION TASC ON PLAN TO BECOME NON-PROFIT

A local government agency that works on drug treatment and drug prevention 
programs is trying to become a non-profit corporation separate from the 
Athens County government.

And while the agency tries to evolve, at least two Athens County 
Commissioners have some questions about how the agency is being organized 
and whether it's the best way to fight the drug war.

The agency in question is the Athens/Hocking/Vinton Treatment Alternatives 
to Street Crimes (TASC). Charles Walker, director of operations for TASC, 
discussed the changes that TASC wants to undertake with the commissioners 
last week.

TASC currently does not charge for its services and receives all of its 
revenue from grant funding. By becoming a non-profit corporation, TASC can 
bill for its services and receive funding from other areas, Walker said. 
Much of the billing, he added, would be through government programs such as 
Medicaid.

The agency wants to become self-supporting, and this is a natural process 
that it is going through to become a more effective agency, Walker said. In 
order to become a non-profit corporation, it needs the assistance of the 
Athens County Commissioners, who currently oversee TASC. The assistance 
Walker sought last week involved reorganizing TASC because some currently 
vacant positions are being eliminated and new positions are being created.

During their meeting last Tuesday, the commissioners said they want to help 
TASC grow, but Commissioners Mark Sullivan and Bill Theisen raised some 
questions about that growth.

Sullivan particularly questioned why TASC is going to pay $26,000 a year 
for the new position of a part-time, 20-hour-a-week internal auditor.

Walker said the position is needed for all of the financial paperwork 
connected with the reorganization.

Sullivan said, however, that he doubts that all of the work the agency is 
talking about can be completed in 20 hours a week. If the position is 
pushed up to full-time, that would raise the salary to $52,000 a year, he 
said. If the salary is that high, Sullivan added, people in positions above 
the internal auditor likely would want their salaries raised as well.

Walker said he does not want to deceive the commissioners and added that 
it's likely that the position could be moved to full-time in the future.

Commissioner Theisen said that the agency is continuing to grow and grow 
and cost more and more, and he wondered if it is worth all of the money.

With all of the drug problems in the country, Theisen said he wonders if 
more money shouldn't be spent in law enforcement and stopping the drug 
problem that way, instead of on treatment programs.

Walker responded by saying how the majority of money already is spent on 
law enforcement and trying to stop drugs from entering the country. He said 
it's very important to fund programs such as TASC. He and Theisen, Walker 
said, simply have different philosophies on the best way to solve the drug 
problem.
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