AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine is part of a new 15-state initiative announced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Monday to address the heroin crisis. A $2.5 million grant, shared among the states, will fund a partnership between law enforcement officers and public health officials to track reporting of overdose information and increase access to treatment.
The approach comes at a time when Maine is struggling to keep up with demand for drug treatment. In announcing the initiative, known as the Heroin Response Strategy, Michael Botticelli, director of National Drug Control Policy, said the administration will work to expand community-based efforts to prevent drug use, increase access to treatment and support millions of Americans in recovery.
Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says she welcomes the new strategy. "I think we have to go at this from all different points of view, and the idea that we could track better where the hotspots are, where things are happening, that will help with law enforcement, it will help with treatment," she says. "I think it's just going to be a very good thing and I'm thrilled that Maine is one of the states that's included in this funding."
Around the country it's estimated that just 10 percent of 23 million Americans with addiction receive treatment. In Maine, methadone clinics, Suboxone providers and residential short- and long-term treatment programs report long wait lists for patients who want help.
"The combined wait list of the two programs at last count was, I think, over 50," says Pat Kimball. Kimball is the executive director of Wellspring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services in Bangor, where she runs two residential drug treatment programs for men and women, about 28 patients in all. She's also the president of the board of the Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs, which focuses on prevention, treatment and recovery.
Kimball says it's not unusual in Maine for patients to wait several months for treatment. She says expanding beds for in-patient treatment should be a priority. "The state can look into accepting federal grant dollars and looking for that. We have a huge lack, particularly in Bangor for detox. You know, we need funding for that."
Kimball says expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is also an option to expand treatment for uninsured patients who make up most of her clients. But the state has chosen not to pursue that approach. And, last month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it was ending a long-standing contract with the Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs.
Executive Director Ruth Blauer says the loss could affect thousands of Mainers in recovery. "This means that the funding for our two key programs, the Maine Alliance for Addiction Recovery and the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse, will be terminated as of 12/31, and our staff and our basic ability to maintain the programs will be gone until we can seek other funding."
Blauer says the Maine Alliance for Addiction Recovery is the only statewide, peer recovery support service in Maine. "Peer recovery is an essential component of getting people into, and staying in, recovery. It doesn't supplant treatment but it's a wonderful adjunct and it's proven to be highly effective nationally. It's an evidence-based kind of practice."
Ricker Hamilton, deputy commissioner of programs for DHHS, says his department is constantly reviewing contracts to make the best use of resources, and minimize overlap. He says that was the case facing Blauer's organization, which had nine contracted employees.
"And what we're instead going to do is we're going to be creating three positions within the department - limited time positions - within the department, to take on many of the tasks and responsibilities that we have," Hamilton says.
Hamilton says other existing staff may also be asked to take on some of the responsibilities. But providers say it appears as if the doors to treatment and recovery just keep closing.
Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook, one of the largest recovery centers in Maine is closing its doors at the end of the month. The decision, which was blamed in part on low reimbursement rates for drug treatment, affects about 250 patients. Most of them are being treated for opiate addiction. Many are now being referred to other providers.
