Santa Cruz County Grand Jury • 2010-2011

How to Catch the RecoveryWaveRecoveryWave.com and a Catalogue of Residential Treatment Facilities

Published: June 29, 2010 40 pages
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Findings 9 findings

F1
The information included in the RecoveryWave.com web page describing each of the listed residential treatment facilities is incomplete, inconsistent, and contains inaccuracies. For instance, the information associated with some RTFs does not include a contact person, and some listings include fees but the stated fees are incorrect. In fact, for one treatment facility 32 ∫ Santa Cruz County Grand Jury Final Report 2009-2010 the fees were understated by $10,000. Updates are handled haphazardly. Some but not all information might be updated to reflect current circumstances. Information on two RTFs was left on the web site long after the facilities had closed.
F2
At present there is no system in place to periodically correct and update RecoveryWave.com. It is not clear whether this responsibility lies with ADAC or with HSA. Also, there currently is no system interface between the RecoveryWave.com web site and a resource directory maintained by HSA.
F3
Personnel not trained in the complex issues of alcohol and drug addiction answer calls on the 454-HELP line. Occasionally calls are transferred to experienced personnel.
F4
The entire RecoveryWave.com web site is available in Spanish, except for the disclaimer. Again, these translations were accomplished by a few dedicated employees of HSA. The Grand Jury had the opportunity to ask about these translations during its survey of the RTFs. It appears that some of the translation needs editing and rewording. Endorsement and Disclaimer Part of the mission statement of ADAC is to promote “high quality public and private programs to eliminate alcohol and other drug abuse in the county.” To this end ADAC is enjoined to: “Encourage and educate the public to understand the nature of alcoholism and other drug dependencies and alcohol and other drug abuse programs; and encourage support throughout the county for development and implementation of effective alcohol and other drug prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery programs.” The Commission has responded to this mandate well with the development of RecoveryWave.com. ADAC promotes all programs, public and private, those with religious ties and those without, in an effort to serve as many people as possible. This is in keeping with the mission statement of HSA to promote community health in the public and private sectors. Thus, RTFs are listed on RecoveryWave.com as a service to the county without the intent to validate or endorse the programs. While the community service aspect of RecoveryWave.com is clearly mandated by HSA and ADAC, the County also needs to limit its exposure to legal liability. To that end RecoveryWave.com includes a link to a disclaimer found in small print at the bottom of the home page only. This disclaimer includes sections covering liability with the phrase “use at your own risk” with language releasing the County from fault. The disclaimer is in English only, even on the Spanish translation pages.
F5
HSA and ADAC are actively carrying out the mandate to educate the public and promote alcohol and drug treatment programs with RecoveryWave.com. The seeming appearance of endorsement by the County could be viewed as an unintended consequence of this public service role. The English-only disclaimer on RecoveryWave.com provides the County legal protection from misuse of the web site information. There is tension between the mandate to provide information to the public and the exposure of the County to the misuse of the How to Catch the RecoveryWave ∫ 33 information. This leads to a lack of clarity about County support and the appearance of an endorsement of the private programs included on RecoveryWave.com. Santa Cruz County Funding for Individuals in Residential Treatment for Alcohol and Drug Addictions In addition to the information gathered about the residential facilities, the Grand Jury interviewed County officials to understand the nature and extent of the funding from the County to the RTFs. With the severe budgetary cutbacks of recent years, there has been a drastic reduction in County support for residential treatment. In many cases funding cuts have meant the curtailment of programs, leaving some special populations without residential treatment entirely. In other cases programs have been shortened to the extent that there is insufficient recovery time. Personnel of the County and those RTFs receiving public support emphasized the difficulty in helping individuals with their addictions when the programs are severely shortened. Providing no support for the most vulnerable populations, like the dual-diagnosed or serial inebriates, presents a challenge for the County.
F6
Santa Cruz County provides critical financial support for Santa Cruz residents in treatment at Janus, Janus Perinatal (formerly Mondanaro-Baskin), New Life Center, Santa Cruz Residential Recovery, Sí Se Puede, and Tyler House. Because of the budget constraints, the County has shortened the length of stay it will support for an individual in residential treatment. With the closure of Paloma House and Las Hermanas, two populations often underserved have had resources disappear. At present there is no County support for residential treatment for serial inebriates.
F7
Adolescents with addiction problems can be treated at Tyler House, often at no cost to their families. Importantly, the program is structured and of sufficient length to promote recovery. Students residing at Tyler House are able to continue their education at La Escuela Quetzal, a sober school adjacent to the house on the same property. Tyler House is not well-known and is underutilized. The Role of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (ADAC) The Grand Jury found that ADAC has been dedicated in assisting the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency in its efforts to stem alcohol and drug abuses. Historically, there have been times when ADAC has had to operate without a full panel of representatives.
F8
HSA has been handicapped by a lack of resources to promote broad awareness of RecoveryWave.com in the Santa Cruz county community, especially to those in critical and immediate need of support and information.
F9
Both HSA and ADAC have voiced their willingness to accept the recent work of this Grand Jury on the residential treatment facilities as a resource both for HSA and for addition to the RecoveryWave.com web site. 34 ∫ Santa Cruz County Grand Jury Final Report 2009-2010 Conclusions C1. The RecoveryWave.com web site does not include adequate information to help individuals make an informed decision when choosing a residential treatment facility in Santa Cruz County. C2. Santa Cruz County funding for residential treatment for individuals with drug and alcohol addictions has been cut back to such a severe degree as to deny treatment to many of the most vulnerable, such as the dual-diagnosed and serial inebriates, and to hamper recovery for many others because of shortened programs. Most of the funding available to Santa Cruz County for all these programs has been provided by the State. The drastic reduction in State support has severely affected programs within Santa Cruz County. C3. Despite the presence of a lengthy disclaimer on RecoveryWave.com, there is the appearance of endorsement of the programs listed on the web site by the County Health Services Agency and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. C4. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has provided limited support for promoting its public service web site, RecoveryWave.com. C5. Because of issues with the Spanish translation and the lack of a disclaimer in Spanish, the usefulness of the web site for Spanish speakers is compromised. C6. The disclaimer is nearly hidden in tiny type at the very bottom of the home page only, and a web site user is not easily aware of the cautionary remarks by the HSA.

Recommendations 5