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Saturday,
January 31, 2009
- Maryland / Regional
-
Meet Greg Warren, Baltimore's new drug treatment
chief
(Daily Record)
-
Former caregiver facing abuse charges
(Carroll County Times)
-
Proposed law would turn over unused gift cards to
the state
(Daily Record)
- National / International
-
Toy makers get extra year to comply with lead test
(Frederick News-Post)
- Opinion
-
Wrong to stereotype effort of state workers
(Baltimore Sun
Letter to the Editor)
-
- Maryland / Regional
-
-
Meet Greg Warren, Baltimore's new drug treatment chief
-
- Legal Affairs Writer
- By Brendan Kearney
- Daily Record
- Saturday, January 31, 2009
-
- Though Greg Warren has only been Baltimore’s drug
treatment chief for a month, the few trinkets he has
found time to perch around his 16th-floor downtown
corner office offer clues about the man and his plans.
-
- Most striking are the eggs of various sizes and
patterns.
-
- “The thing about the egg that appeals to me,” Warren
said, “is you don’t know what’s inside of it, but it’s
something special. We’re always in the process of
becoming something hopefully bigger and better.”
-
- For the past 18 years, Warren has concerned himself
with how Baltimore’s addicts can kick their habits and
recreate themselves as sober citizens. Now, as president
and CEO of Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems Inc.,
Warren, 46, has risen to the top of the town’s drug
treatment infrastructure, which he hopes to improve and
expand in spite of the tanking economy.
-
- Warren admits “the devil is in the details,” but, in
broad strokes, he wants to buttonhole Baltimoreans —
gently, of course — when they’re most amenable to a
turnaround. Warren sees such critical points as when
they come before a judge, when they leave prison, when
they arrive at an emergency room and when they seek
mental health treatment.
-
- “What kind of incentives, carrots, can we dangle in
front of these people to help them create a motivational
moment?” Warren asked during a sit-down interview.
-
- As a veteran in the field who has done street
outreach, Warren knows the will to change can be
“fleeting”; but in Baltimore, where drugs seem to attend
the rest of the problems, dealing with the addiction
issue could make positive ripples.
-
- “If we can get a public-health systems approach to
dealing with this population, we can make a huge impact
in terms of the murder rate, ER visits, overdose deaths,
sexually transmitted diseases, child’s protective
services cases, the sex trade,” Warren said.
-
- Linking to prisons
- Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, or bSAS, is a
quasi-public nonprofit that, under former city health
commissioner Dr. Peter Beilenson, grew from a small
analytical unit within the health department into a $53
million organization in charge of disbursing all
drug-treatment money that comes to the city.
-
- Founded in 1990, bSAS took its current form (which
Beilenson, now the Howard County Health Officer, said
allowed for more flexibility) and responsibilities in
1995. According to Warren, through its 55 sponsored
programs, ranging from acupuncture to methadone
maintenance, bSAS treats 23,000 people annually.
-
- Even though Warren says that’s an all-time high,
“clearly it’s not enough,” because estimates of the
number of intravenous drug users in Baltimore are
between two and three times that figure.
-
- Warren got his start as an addictions counselor
before becoming coordinator of the addictions department
of Healthcare for the Homeless Inc. in Baltimore. He
then served as director of operations for Glass
Substance Abuse Programs, a bSAS-funded provider.
-
- For the past four years, Warren had been director of
substance abuse treatment services for the state prison
system, a position that has him focused on, and
personally invested in, what happens to inmates’ drug
treatment regimens upon release. Warren said 70 percent
of the state’s prison population is from Baltimore and
70 percent is addicted, with heroin being the drug of
choice. He called hitching his current and former
employers a “critical linkage.”
-
- “Within the prison system, prior to 2005, we offered
very little substance abuse treatment,” Warren said. But
during Warren’s term, the Department of Public Safety
and Correctional Services opened five “therapeutic
community programs,” including four methadone programs
within the Baltimore City Detention Center. According to
the health department announcement of Warren’s hiring,
the number of inmates receiving heroin treatment went
from approximately 1,000 to 3,600.
-
- “What would happen if we were to begin to treat 10
percent of them, if they went directly into a substance
abuse treatment program in Baltimore City?” Warren
suggested. “They would be detoxed in the prison but upon
their release, say on probation or release on their own
recognizance or release on bail, if they were to go
directly into a substance abuse program?”
-
- Beilenson, who chaired the bSAS Board of Directors
as part of his former job, praised the notion.
-
- “It doesn’t do a lot of good to do treatment in
prison … then you discharge them to the streets,” he
said. “I’m very pleased he’s talking about that.”
-
- While he cannot offer addicts outside the walls the
same incentives as those inside — sentence credits being
the biggest, Warren said — other pressures exist, such
as a desire to please spouses or bosses.
-
- Critical junctures
- Warren also has his mind on the pre-prison component
of the criminal justice system: how judges assess drug
users and mete out punishment.
-
- “If we can give educated information to the judges
where we can say, ‘this is why they did this property
crime: it’s because of their heroin addiction and we
think that this person would do well at this level of
care within our publicly-funded treatment system,’ then
that leaves the judge the option,” Warren said.
-
- While bSAS has staff in certain courthouses now, any
expansion of assessment services would cut into the
treatment budget, he said: “It comes down to funding.”
-
- Other potential opportunities for treatment
initiation occur when an addict is compelled to seek
health care, like at city emergency rooms. Warren said
he hasn’t had a chance to meet with hospital
representatives yet, so “it’s too early to predict” how
such a plan to funnel addicts to treatment might work.
-
- Beilenson said the cost of stationing someone at
hospitals on any regular basis might be prohibitive and
suggested it be attempted on a pilot basis first.
-
- Similarly, Warren hopes to collaborate with a sister
agency, Baltimore Mental Health Systems Inc., to make
his staff “co-occurring capable” — meaning they are able
to identify an addict’s mental health problems, plug
them into an appropriate program for that disorder, and
then monitor their parallel treatment tracks.
-
- BMHS President and CEO Jane Plapinger said she and
Warren have already spoken about coordination — their
organizations have a memorandum of understanding — but
that money is always a limiting factor in building the
ideal treatment infrastructure.
-
- “The gold standard is to have one program that does
both” mental health and drug treatment, she said,
comparing such a place to a supermarket. “What he’s
talking about … that’s a step before integrated
treatment.”
-
- Given the large population of Baltimoreans with
co-occurring addictions and mental illness and the
difficulty and high cost of treating them, coordination
between bSAS and BMHS is crucial, according to
Plapinger.
-
- “Making the referral is not enough for these
people,” she said. “You’ve got to follow up.”
-
- On the prevention side, bSAS has brought Christian
Moore’s “WhyTry” program to 37 city elementary schools
to discourage the next generation from resorting to
drugs. Warren said initial reviews of the visual,
hands-on early intervention program, including from the
assistant principal at Maree G. Farring
Elementary/Middle School in Cherry Hill, where he
visited in mid-January, have been positive.
-
- Relationship-oriented
- Though cognizant that deteriorating economic
conditions could affect all these projects, Warren has
found a silver lining.
-
- “[W]hen you don’t have extra money to spend, you
need to build better relationships to produce the same
outcomes,” Warren said. “When the economic downturn
reverses, and money starts to flow again, we’re going to
be able to make a great case to federal agencies and the
state legislature that says Baltimore City has developed
these excellent partnerships, we use research
organizations in Baltimore City to evaluate our
processes and our outcomes and this is what we can
produce if you give us this amount of money.”
-
- Beilenson said bSAS is “a little bit better
protected” than other nonprofits because most of its
budget comes from the government, not foundations, which
have been hit hardest by the stock-market dive.
-
- Warren said bSAS just recently received $1 million
from the state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration to
continue the use of buprenorphine, the alternative to
methadone for heroin treatment that has been both
praised and criticized. While acknowledging the illicit
street use of buprenorphine, Warren stands by the more
recent addition to the heroin treatment arsenal.
-
- “Buprenorphine is a safe drug, (has) significantly
less side effects as compared to methadone, and is
highly effective in treating heroin addicts
internationally,” he said.
-
- One approach Warren does not advocate for solving
Baltimore’s drug addiction is any kind of legalization.
-
- “I need motivating forces,” he said. “Legalizing
those drugs takes away one of the motivating forces for
people to enter substance abuse treatment.”
-
- Copyright 2009 Daily Record.
-
-
Former
caregiver facing abuse charges
-
- By Ryan Marshall
- Carroll County Times
- Saturday, January 31, 2009
-
- A former caregiver for The Arc of Carroll County
faces charges that he abused two men he was hired to
care for.
-
- Colin Lee Gambill, 24, of the 10000 block of Old
Liberty Road in Frederick, was indicted on three counts
of abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult by a
custodian, two counts of interference with rights of
individuals and one count of second-degree assault,
according to court records. He’s currently free on
$10,000 bond, according to a release from the Maryland
attorney general’s office.
-
- Gambill was a paid assistant residential adviser,
caring for two developmentally disabled men who lived at
a group home in Westminster, according to the attorney
general’s office release. The office’s Medicaid Fraud
Control Unit investigated the case.
-
- The unit investigates complaints against assisted
living facilities that receive Medicaid money, said
Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for the attorney
general’s office.
-
- The indictment alleges the abuse occurred over an
eight-month period, from November 2007 to June 2008,
according to the release.
-
- Officials at The Arc learned of the alleged abuse on
June 24, and Gambill was fired the same day, said
Executive Director Donald Rowe. He said the group
immediately contacted authorities and cooperated with
the investigation.
-
- Rowe said he was sad and angered when he found out
about the alleged incidents.
-
- “When something like this happens, it just takes
your breath away,” he said.
-
- Abuse of a vulnerable adult is a misdemeanor with a
maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000
fine, according to the release. Interference with the
rights of individuals is a misdemeanor with a penalty of
up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
-
- Gambill was indicted in Carroll County Circuit
Court, but the investigation was handled by the attorney
general’s office because of a personal connection
between one of the victims in the case and someone who
worked in the state’s attorney’s office, said Carroll
County Chief Deputy State’s Attorney David Daggett.
-
- The case will be handled by the attorney general’s
office in Carroll County Circuit Court, Daggett said.
-
- Reach staff writer Ryan Marshall at 410-857-7865
or
ryan.marshall@carrollcountytimes.com.
-
- Copyright 2009 Carroll County Times.
-
-
Proposed law would turn over unused gift cards to the
state
-
- Assistant Business Editor
- By Ben Mook
- Daily Record
- Saturday, January 31, 2009
-
- A recently proposed bill seeks to create a new
revenue stream for the state — unused money from gift
certificates, gift cards and even prepaid calling cards.
-
- HB 126 would classify any gift card, prepaid credit
card, gift certificate or prepaid calling card to be
abandoned property if it is not redeemed in full four
years after it was issued. The state would get 70
percent of the abandoned balances.
-
- Del. Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, D-Anne Arundel and
Prince George’s, introduced the bill last week to amend
the state’s policy on escheat — the legal provision that
determines what properties revert to the state if deemed
abandoned. Maryland is actually in the minority of
states that do not have laws on the books categorizing
gift cards as abandoned property under certain
circumstances.
-
- Under the Pena-Melnyk’s bill, retailers would have
to compile the number and value of gift cards and
certificates along with the remaining balances and
submit the information annually to the comptroller’s
office. By March 1, 70 percent of the balance on
anything deemed abandoned would be turned over to the
comptroller, who would in turn distribute the money to
the general fund.
-
- The four-year limit only applies when cards are
inactive. After four years, the card would only be
considered abandoned if unused for one year after the
last activity.
-
- “As long as you keep using it, it will never
expire,” Pena-Melnyk said.
-
- Changing the state’s approach toward gift cards has
drawn criticism from retailers, who have widely dropped
the practice of instituting expiration dates and fees on
gift cards and see this as the state imposing its own
expiration date to the detriment of consumers and
retailers.
-
- “It’s an invisible tax on retailers and customers,”
Maureen Riehl, vice president of government relations
for the National Retail Federation, said. “It’s a money
grab — a back door way for the state to go after
something they have no right to.”
-
- Riehl said the state has nothing to do with the
process and should not be able to reap the money. She
said with non-expiring gift cards, the money is put in
trust and is not categorized as profit until the cards
are redeemed. If the state declares the cards abandoned
after four years, the onus is then on the retailer to
deal with consumers who were under the impression the
card never expired, she said.
-
- “It’s kind of like the state sneaking in and taking
the money and leaving the retailer holding the bag,”
Riehl said.
-
- Tom Saquella, president of the Maryland Retailers
Association, agreed that it would likely fall on the
shoulders of retailers to “make things whole” with
disgruntled customers who did not know the balances
would be taken by the state after four years.
-
- “The retailers are going to be the ones liable for
honoring these gift cards if they’re brought back in
five or 10 years,” Saquella said.
-
- Saquella also said the move could be seen negatively
by consumers who could see it as the state taking money
it is not entitled to.
-
- “What they’re essentially looking at with this is
the citizens’ money,” Saquella said. “And, should the
state, especially in these times, really be considering
getting into the business of taking taxpayers’ money?”
-
- Pena-Melnyk, though, said given the state’s current
budget crunch, measures like this bill are far less
onerous ways to generate new revenue than other options
being considered.
-
- “When we’re looking at cutting health programs,
looking at pensions and some hard decisions, I’d rather
take what is basically money that people have forgotten
about,” Pena-Melnyk said. “That, to me, is much easier
to swallow than anything else.”
-
- The National Retail Federation is also concerned
with the provision that requires merchants to collect
the name and address of card purchasers. There is a
proviso, however, that the buyer can just list the
comptroller as the custodian instead of giving a name
and address. Still, Riehl said, it goes against the core
reason people like to buy gift cards.
-
- “Gift cards are like cash, and the whole point is
that they change hands no strings attached,” Riehl said.
-
- While Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot would be
responsible for collecting information and money, his
office did not introduce the bill and has yet to take a
formal position on it. Franchot spokesman Joe Shapiro
said they were reviewing the bill first.
-
- “But, the concept is something we could support,” he
said.
-
- Copyright 2009 Daily Record.
-
- National / International
-
-
Toy makers get extra year to comply with lead test
-
- By Associated Press
- Frederick News-Post
- Saturday, January 31, 2009
-
- WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. makers of toys and other
children's products will get an extra year to comply
with certain lead and chemical testing rules.
-
- Members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission
voted unanimously Friday to hold off on a Feb. 10
deadline in which manufacturers were to sell only
products that have been tested for lead and other
harmful substances.
-
- Last summer, lawmakers imposed the toughest lead
standards in the world, banning lead beyond minute
levels in products for children 12 or younger.
Then-President George W. Bush signed the measure in
August.
-
- The act came after millions of recalled toys and
children's items, many of which were from China.
-
- Manufacturers will now have until Feb. 10, 2010, to
comply with the testing requirements.
-
- Please send comments to webmaster or contact us at
301-662-1177.
-
- Copyright 2009 Frederick News-Post.
-
- Opinion
-
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Wrong to stereotype effort of state workers
-
- Baltimore Sun Letter to the Editor
- Saturday, January 31, 2009
-
- The letter "State cuts may curb culture of
entitlement" (Jan. 25) was insulting and offensive to
state employees.
-
- The letter writer appears deeply concerned about
what she believes is an "entitlement mentality" among
state workers and happy that 700 state workers may lose
their jobs.
-
- But the writer doesn't present any real facts
regarding the compensation of state employees and
overlooks the fact that state employees have often been
furloughed to help balance the state budget.
-
- Most state employees are truly devoted to their
jobs, but they do expect to be treated fairly. And,
clearly, "complacency, a poor attitude and substandard
work performance" are attitudes present not only in
state government but also in corporate America.
-
- The letter writer should note that the current
economic crisis was brought about by a "sense of
entitlement" on the part of many in the corporate sector
- bankers, investment brokers, mortgage brokers, etc.
-
- To suggest complacency and substandard work
performance is more prevalent among state employees than
in the private sector, without any supporting data, is
irresponsible.
-
- Simple stereotyping is never helpful.
-
- Edward McCarey McDonnell
- Baltimore
-
- The writer is a retired state employee.
-
- Copyright 2009 Baltimore Sun.
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