Article published November 17, 2008
Toledo area social service agencies suffering
Public, private funding is drying up
Kayne Petiniot, 14, left, is taught how to grate cheese by Dani Moran, a rehabilitation teacher for The Sight Center. Several local human services agencies are facing dwindling funds.
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THE BALDE/JETTA FRASER
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By JULIE M. McKINNON
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Nicole Reno's substance abuse problem started eight years ago when the Rossford High School graduate started smoking marijuana at Ohio University.
Addictions to heroin and crack cocaine followed.
But Ms. Reno has been drug-free since May, when the 26-year-old sought help for the second time at Compass Corporation for Recovery Services in Toledo. Working as a waitress at the time, Ms. Reno didn't have health insurance and couldn't afford to pay for treatment.
"The people at Compass, they're so compassionate," said Ms. Reno, who did pay $100 the first time she sought help nearly two years ago.
"If it wasn't there, I wouldn't know where to go," she added. "I wouldn't know who to turn to."
These days, however, human services agencies such as Compass are having their own struggles. The economy has tightened up public and private funding at the same time more people of all ages are requiring help with substance abuse, mental health problems, disabilities, and other health-related issues.The demand for addiction and substance abuse services at Compass, for example, has doubled from a year ago as employment, health insurance, and housing woes continue. But less state funding is expected to be funneled to such agencies next year because tax revenues have declined, so Compass may have to scale back its services, said Bill Sanford, Compass president.
"The tougher the times, it seems to be that more [substance abuse] issues are exhibited, and there's problems," Mr. Sanford said.
Said James Karasek, chief executive of Rescue Mental Health Services in Toledo: "It is a little scary. It's bad timing for cuts when the economy is bad and demand may be increasing."
Last month, Toledo's Connecting Point had to at least temporarily close its 24-hour assistance center for children. The center cost about $500,000 a year to run and provided shelter for children primarily with mental health disorders as well as runaways, said Delores Williams, Connecting Point's chief operating officer and interim chief executive.
Funding has changed over the years so that most grants pay per service provided to a child, but even if none was there, the 1212 Cherry St. assistance center had to remain staffed in case help was needed, Ms. Williams said. The youth agency has a $9 million annual budget.
At The Sight Center of Northwest Ohio, which has a $900,000 annual budget, various services are provided to 1,200 children and adults who are blind or visually impaired. Grant funding to help older clients live independently has been cut by more than half in the last three years to $140,000, said Dawn Christensen, The Sight Center executive director.
"That's huge for an agency of this size," said Ms. Christensen, adding those clients may get one magnifier, for example, instead of different models.
She said: "We've really had to cut back on how much we can do."
Even though voters on Nov. 4 approved a replacement levy for the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County, its board - which gives funding to Compass, Connecting Point, and 20 other agencies - will have to cut about $300,000 from worthwhile but nonessential programs provided by some of them on April 1.
The state is expected to further reduce funding in January, so there could be more cutbacks coming, board officials said.
"As much as we appreciate the levy, it is really just helping us keep our head above water," said Jacqueline Martin, the board's executive director.
Connecting Point leaders also are grateful the levy passed, and it is looking for other sources of funding, said Diana Chatman, board president.
Still, the youth behavioral health agency recently had to cancel one fund-raiser and expects to halt another in June because it doesn't have the money to put them on, Ms. Chatman said.
And other potential donors are having economic problems, too, she said.
"It's a challenge," Ms. Chatman said. "We have to remain constant in our appeal to the community for assistance so that we can continue to help our children."
Compass usually reserves fund-raising for specific projects, such as renovations of the Old West End's Tiedtke House into a place for female patients, but the agency will start doing an annual fund-raising campaign this year, Mr. Sanford said.
The agency gets some reimbursements from Medicaid, but the need to regularly receive funds from private donors is increasing, he said.
Ms. Reno, the former substance abuser, stayed at the Tiedtke House for her inpatient treatment. Now she is living at Aurora House, a transitional home for women in North Toledo where she continues to work on her recovery.
Compass helped Ms. Reno get housing and an internship at the Lucas County commissioners office.
Next, Ms. Reno is planning to spend a year in AmeriCorps, earning a stipend while working on projects in northwest Ohio.
She hopes to finish school to become a chemical dependency counselor.
Ms. Reno said she can't imagine what would happen if the agency ceased to exist because of a lack of funding.
"I love the people at Compass," she said.
"They made such a huge difference in my life."
Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:
jmckinnon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6087.
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