Facing the loss of a $450,000 grant to establish a drug detoxification center for teen-agers, Baltimore County officials have reversed their position, saying yesterday that they would accept the money if the state gives them more time to find a home for the program.
The decision came days before the county was to forfeit the money, earmarked for the county's first center to treat teen-age drug abusers. Under the terms of the grant, unless the money is allocated for a project by Sunday, the end of the current fiscal year, it must be returned to the state.
The grant was announced by the state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration in March. The County Council voted to accept the money June 3. But county administrators initially said they wouldn't commit to accepting the grant until negotiations on a site for the program were complete.
Administrators softened that stance yesterday, when The Sun made inquiries into the fate of the money. Elise Armacost, spokeswoman for County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, said that if the state is willing to give the county an extension, the county will accept the grant money.
"If they are willing to give us that in writing," she said, "we'll be happy to accept [the grant] and continue looking for a building."
State officials could not be reached to say whether they would grant an extension.
County officials have targeted the Rosewood Center, a state-owned facility for the developmentally disabled in Owings Mills, as the possible home of the 15- to 20-bed treatment center for teens. Patients would stay there for about 30 to 90 days.
Because the county has no residential facilities for teens, some are sent as far as the Eastern Shore for drug treatment.
Right Turn of Maryland, a private nonprofit agency, was selected to run the center and was to negotiate the purchase of the building at Rosewood, where the agency operates other treatment programs.
However, a snag developed when Right Turn learned that the building it wanted was about to be bought by a third party. That meant that the agency would have to negotiate with the new owner. It asked the county to accept the grant money contingent on the completion of a sales agreement.
"What we want the county to do is to make the grant subject to us getting the building," Charlie Powell, Right Turn program manager, said this week. "It would be kind of a shame to see that money go back to the state."
Peter Luongo, director of the state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration, said it's not unprecedented for a grant to be accepted with conditions.
"It's not the usual, but it's not unusual," Luongo said.
Baltimore County is scheduled to receive another $450,000 grant from the drug abuse administration Monday for the coming fiscal year. Right Turn hopes to use that money for treatment once the teen center site is selected, Powell said.
County Councilman Wayne M. Skinner, a Towson Republican, said he can't understand why the county was willing to give the money back to the state. He noted that the council is to vote Monday on giving a $5,000 grant to the "Baltimore Believe" anti-drug campaign, a contribution strongly backed by County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger. Skinner asked why council members would do that while officials allow $450,000 for a program of its own to slip away.
"I don't know why we put the full-court press on the $5,000 while we're sitting on the bench for this one," Skinner said.
County Health Department officials say the need for teen drug treatment in the county is great. A recent survey of county high school students found that 60 percent have used a drug other than alcohol.
"There is no question that the need is there and the need has been there," said Michael Gimbel, director of the county Bureau of Substance Abuse. "Getting this building open is a big priority."
Mountain Manor Treatment Center, with four facilities throughout the state, said it has accepted 50 Baltimore County teens in the past six months.
"That kind of shows you the need is out there," said Mary Roby, president of the private center. "And I don't know how many kids are not calling us."
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Kathleen Cox has been trying to establish a juvenile drug court. A treatment facility would be a big asset, she said.
"It was a perfect complement to the adult places," Cox said.
Right Turn operates five treatment facilities at the Rosewood Center off Reisterstown Road near Owings Mills Boulevard. This month, it opened a new adult treatment center. In addition, it operates two halfway houses, a DWI facility and a transitional living house.