With the current state of the economy and its impact on State and Federal budgets, Kastner recently noticed a lot of discussion from other government agencies about funding cuts. This led him to take a look back at the LCDAC’s allocations from previous years. “As I suspected,” Kastner said, “we actually were being cut for the last seven or eight years.”
Tag: Interview with Rick Kastner
Success in treatment sops up available funds
Surprisingly, the 2006 opening of a Lancaster-based methadone clinic has increased the demand for similar treatment services from the LCDAC. In the time since the clinic opened, the number of county residents under methadone or Suboxone treatment has increased from mere dozens to nearly 300. Also during this time, the LCDAC has had to carve funding out of its rehab budget to support the rising demand for these treatments among its “working poor” patrons.
Why so little funding for “working poor” rehab?
Most Federal and State funded programs have encountered budget cuts as a result of the recent economic recession. But, according to Kastner, this is no new development for the LCDAC. Whereas most other government funded human services programs are budgeted around $10 million each year, the LCDAC has received less than $4 million for each of the past seven years.
Rehab funding closed to Lancaster’s “working poor”
On December 8, 2008, the Lancaster County Drug and Alcohol Commission (LCDAC) had to cease accepting new placements into rehab and halfway house (HH) programs. There will be no new admissions until the beginning of the next fiscal year, on July 1. Of course, the LCDAC, which has historically received scanty funding from its State and Federal sources, has had to block admission to these programs before—but only for about two months, not seven.