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12/19/13
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Good evening Diana,
By coincidence, I wrote to Ken and Stephanie this morning suggesting that the DAAC may want to shift from a "advice giving" mode to a "supportive and consensus building" mode for the initiatives contained in the County Executive's letter to the Governor dated November 22, 2013. Of course, any activities under the "supportive" mode would need to be approved by Stephanie as Health Officer to make sure we do not conflict with whatever message is being delivered by her office.
I had suggested a list of groups and individuals could be contacted, both at the State and local level, to build support first for these initiatives being included in the Governor's budget, and second that once included, they are approved by the General Assembly. For example, I believe Ken has said that the Recovery High School initiative has met with some enthusiastic support from some State employees who will need to "sign off" on these initiatives. If that is true, it certainly would be helpful to have a letter of support from the Cecil County Board of Education. I indicate I would be happy to reach out to Dr. Devine and the Board members to see if such a letter could be obtained.
Since State employees may not "lobby" (but they can "educate"), the DAAC in the past has not taken any kind of formal vote on consensus building initiatives. Those of us who are not employed by the State have contacted State and local officials on behalf of Council, but again such contacts have been approved in advance by the Health Officer. I will let you know when Stephanie decides how she wants to use DAAC in this role, if at all.
Regarding the language you cite regarding the strategic plan:
"ouncils are responsible for preparing a two year strategic plan that includes strategies and priorities of the jurisdiction for meeting the identified needs of the general public and the criminal justice system for alcohol and drug abuse evaluation, prevention and treatment services. Councils are also required to submit reports every 6 months to the Alcohol and Drug Administration on their progress in implementing the plan."
I am pleased to report that the Cecil County DAAC has met every deadline as required under this statute. Ken has spent hours each year submitting the updates and the 2 year plan. Over the years, many community members have suggested additions (unfortunately, not many deletions). As I noted to Ken in August, I was thusly very disappointed that the Governor appeared unaware of Cecil's plan, and also disappointed that no one thought to share it with him. However, that's "water over the dam" now.
Thank you for your thoughts, and Merry Christmas! John
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12/28/13
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John,
I was wondering why you replied to my last email as if you had already addressed what the intended function of DAAC was. I didn't see this reply until I went searching for my email to you.
My question still is, where are you getting the guidelines on how the DAAC is supposed to function. You say that the DAAC is only advisory but why would that be limiting. I thought the 2 year plan and 6 month reports were compiled from the direction of the DAAC. Until we see the Rules of Procedure, how can you say what authority Stephanie Garrity has in using the DAAC?
Also, can you provide a copy of the Attorney General Opinion you are referring to on advisory councils?
Another question, did the DAAC approve or review the 6 month reports and the 2 year strategic plan submitted by Ken Collins? I would have thought the plan and reports were compiled using data from the DAAC meetings. Also, can you provide the 6 month reports and strategic plans for the last 6 years?
I expressed a concern on the Recovery High School at the last DHMH Meeting. Where did this initiative originate? Is there a model they are copying that has been successful? Isn't the High Roads School already providing this service? In fact, we requested that Ken bring Louis Guertin (Director of High Roads School) in to discuss further the Recovery High School. By the way, we still need the DHMH Meeting to be scheduled because they were going to explain the State Stat findings on our specific questions regarding the effectiveness of Methadone Maintenance Programs.
My biggest concern is that we could be wasting a lot of money and time by supporting initiatives that sound good on paper but have not had the scrutiny or review to be vetted properly. I'm guessing that the whole purpose of the DAAC's was to first identify the top goals in a County and then back that up with action. The 6 month reports are supposed to show how we are supporting the Strategic Plan.
After I read the Initial Plan, it answered a lot of questions on why Cecil County has been spinning its wheels for so long: The first goal had never been addressed! Increased access to intensive inpatient detox for Whittsit. Why did I have to hear about this for the first time at the Governor's Round Table? And now I see it has always been our #1 goal but what has DAAC done to meet that goal?
There is no doubt that you and Ken Collins are enthusiastically in support of Tari Moore's initiatives. But if we allow our feelings to determine how to best invest our resources in attacking drug abuse, we will end up looking foolish. Let's base our choices on facts and research. I was pleased County Ex. Moore agreed with my request to make expanding Intensive Inpatient Care at Whittsit our top goal - which was previously vetted and supported by many County Departments, included in our strategic plan and our highest overdose rate coincides with the increased 6 week waiting list when the 1/2 the beds were no longer available. However, I'm concerned that no funding amount has been assigned to that request. After speaking with representatives at Whittsit, they did provide the funding amounts necessary for what was requested and I believe it was about $700,000.
As I had mentioned to Ken Collins, I am very concerned with the County Executive's #2 request that we expand residential access to detox. Where is the research to support that program will work. From my initial inquiry, in the majority of cases it usually doesn't because the patient is still located in the environment that triggers their addiction. The most successful detox program is when the patient is removed from their existing environment to detox and are then provided the tools and support system to continue fighting addiction in the future.
I would request that a DAAC meeting be scheduled as soon as possible to have a sobering discussion on what initiatives we as a Council will formerly support.
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