Rotarian Linda Williams with Prestera director Bob Hansen

January 20, 2009

With a startling array of facts and figures, Prestera director Robert H. Hansen told Putnam Rotarians today how the need for more prisons and hospitals might be cut with community-based programs for mental health and drug addiction.

Every dollar spent today for addiction and mental health assistance saves seven dollars in social services later, he told the group.

When children must be placed in foster care, he said, seventy percent of the cases involve drug and alcohol addiction problems with parents.

Drug abuse also accounts for a major segment of the growing prison population. A new prison now in the planning stages would cost the state $350 million to build and $35 million a year to operate.

"Where we once had group homes and day programs, " said Hanson, "people must now go to a state hospital -- the most expensive type of service." Since Shawnee Hills closed, more and more clients require hospitalization. The numbers are growing by ten to twenty percent each year.

Prestera provides services regardless of ability to pay. "Ninety percent of the people we serve don't have an income, or they're on Medicaid," says Hansen.

"People in prison for crimes arising from drug abuse, when they get out, they go back and do the same old thing," he said. "They become re-addicted. They go back to the same environment because they have not learned the 'coping skills' needed to stay off drugs."

Of twenty-three million people in the country who have drug or alcohol problems, less than two million have access to rehabilitation services.

"Treatment for addiction has been proven to work, says Hansen. New Jersey is closing a prison for 5,000 inmates largely due to successes with community-based programs for addiction treatment. "And there has been little or no public criticism," he added.

For 42 years, Prestera has provided services to deal with alcohol and drug addiction.

Since the closing of Shawnee Hills in 2002, the non-profit organization has served eight counties in the Kanawha Valley and surrounding areas with a staff of 800 employees working out of some 50 locations.

About 13,000 persons each year receive services. "Some of these cases are for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Others may be only for a half hour to help deal with crisis circumstances."

Much of the work is done in hospital emergency rooms, at CAMC General in Charleston, and in Huntington at Cabell-Huntington and St. Mary's. "Many of the people who show up in emergency rooms have mental health and addiction issues."

The major initiative for Prestera at the present time is simply quick access. "For many of the people who come to Prestera, the need is immediate.help -- not an appointment in two or three weeks."

An "open access" arrangement is now in place at the Huntington main office, with other locations opening in the near future. Anyone who comes to an "open access" site during the working day will be seen immediately by a clinician.

"West Virginia is leading the nation in opiate addiction," says Hensen. "Heroin, prescription opiates. Oxycontin is number one."

Through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prestera has been able to provide special medications for addiction treatment. "A year ago, we were treating three people; today we are treating 200," he told the group.

Prestera has three office locations in Putnam County. The main office is in the former sheriff's office next to the Courthouse in Winfield. A "wrap-around" intensive program for adolescents with addiction issues is operated at the Winfield office. Most of the work is after school hours.

The Hopewell Place on Teays Valley Road offers services for adults on an out-patient basis. Most of the programs operate during afternoons or in the evening hours. This "intensive outpatient program" is a whole-person approach focused on emotional, physical and spiritual health in a supportive setting. The arrangements allow clients to focus on treatment while remaining active in a career.

Across the road from Hopewell is the Prestera Development Office for the eight-county area, operating with a staff of four.

Most Prestera offices may be reached by dialing 1-800-642-3434 which also serves as a 24-hour crisis hot line.

Prestera has partial funding provided by the Department of Health and Human Resources.