Pubdate: Fri, 29 Apr 2005
Source: Argus Leader (SD)
Copyright: 2005 Argus Leader
Contact:  http://www.argusleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/842
Author: Corrine Olson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

DETOX CENTER TO HELP CLIENTS FIND SOBRIETY

New County Facility Promotes Lasting Changes

Minnehaha County residents needing detoxification soon will be able to
get help at a new center housed in what once was the county jail.

The finishing touches are being put on an $800,000 detox center to
provide beds for 25 people in early May.

"They're going to have a program that is much more comprehensive,"
said Randy DeRaad, the Avera McKennan employee who will direct the
center. "If you just lock them up until they sober up, you have
accomplished nothing."Originally, the county had planned to open a
center to hold those who hadn't necessarily broken a law but were
picked up for intoxication. The price tag for that center was
estimated at $85,000.

But after discussing problems of the addicted and checking state
regulations, the county decided to take a medical approach to the
program and design a facility that looks more like a hospital than a
jail cell.The choice raised the construction price tag considerably,
but Minnehaha County Commission Chairwoman Carol Twedt thinks it's an
approach that will pay off.

The county awarded a contract to Avera McKennan to operate the center
at a one-year cost of $401,000. There will be two staff members
working at the center 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Twedt said she thinks the new center will make the job easier for law
enforcement and also will help some learn to recover from
addictions.The center is not a treatment center, although some
addiction education programs will be offered.

It's rather a place for people to sober up or wait for a space in a
private or state-operated treatment program for addicts.Paul Jones, a
chemical dependency counselor, said when clients arrive at the detox
center, they first will be evaluated to determine whether they have an
addiction problem.

Next, they will be encouraged to consider in-patient or out-patient
treatment.

People can end up at the detox center in three ways. Some can be
brought on a protective custody hold and held for 12 to 48 hours until
sober. Others might come through emergency commitment for a five-day
hold. And others might be ordered to the center by the court for
involuntary commitment of up to 30 days.In the former arrangement used
by the county, people in need of detoxification were taken to the
Carroll Institute, which contracted to provide those services. People
were locked in at Carroll Institute, but some simply left, leaving law
enforcement to track them down again, Twedt said.

The new center is a secure unit where clients can be watched with the
help of 16 cameras. Two rooms are set aside for patients who become
violent to be watched from the front desk of the facility.Individual
rooms are provided for each person.

DeRaad said he thinks the new approach can assist people who haven't
accepted help in the past.

Jones said some taken to the center still won't want to try treatment,
but for many, a stay at a detox center might be a wake-up call that
they have an addiction problem.DeRaad said the center's aim will be to
help people start over.

"We'll keep them until they're safe, sober and in control of their
lives," he said. 
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