Unified treatment plan picked
BOISE – State and local health officials say they will soon be working with one unified game plan for assessing mental health and substance abuse problems of affected adults and adolescents across the state.
Introduced Wednesday by Debbie Field, the state’s drug czar, the strategy is designed to give drug counselors and mental health officials a single, streamlined tool for diagnosing mental health and chemical dependency problems and directing clients to the most effective treatment programs.
For decades, Field said, Idaho has operated under a disjointed system in which, for example, social workers in Coeur d’Alene might use different criteria for evaluating teen substance abuse than counselors in Pocatello or Nampa.
“We had 16 mechanics that all wanted the engine to run well … but everyone had a different repair manual,” Gov. Butch Otter told the committee that selected the plan.
“This is going to save us a lot of effort and time. I’m convinced we’ll be seeing some human capital returns very, very soon,” Otter said.
The plan – named Global Appraisal of Individual Needs – is already being used by health and welfare agencies in at least seven states and populous counties such as King County, Wash.
It was selected after a review of seven other assessment strategies by a committee of 16 education, substance abuse and mental health leaders from around the state.
Field said training will begin this summer so local agencies can begin phasing in the program by fall.
In some areas of the state, GAIN is already paying dividends.
Kipp Dana, coordinator of eastern Idaho’s District 7 treatment program, said GAIN has been in place for nearly two years, helping as many as 200 clients.
Dana said the system has increased the efficiency of the district’s staff and improved services to adolescents and adults.
“This is really on the cutting edge,” Dana said. “It really lets us zero in on a person’s major health problems or substance abuse … and what we need to do to help them manage those problems.”
Some of GAIN’s features include:
“A series of screening tests that allow counselors to identify a range of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder.
“Screening tests that discern whether a client dabbles in drugs or has dependency issues.
“A system that helps counselors put clients in the proper treatment programs. It also includes database software capable of recording up to 1,600 evaluation issues for each client.
The database is “something we’ve never had in Idaho before … that allows everyone using the system to know exactly who we are working with and what those clients need to do,” Dana said.
Although GAIN could help state and local agencies save money, Field declined to speculate on an exact amount.
The goal, Field said, is that the new system will make counselors more efficient, eliminating the duplication of services and treatment programs to clients.
“What we had was a system in which almost 100 percent of the kids caught using drugs were going to a treatment program that was costing up to $4,000 per person,” she said. “But the majority of those kids caught were just users, not addicted, that didn’t need the benefits of an expensive intervention plan.”