* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Welch
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Informational Hearing - Mandatory Patient Transportation for Drug Treatment Programs
FOR the purpose of requesting that representatives from the City and State agencies that regulate and support chemical dependency treatment programs appear before the Council to discuss steps that can be taken to make treatment more accessible to residents of areas far from existing facilities while minimizing the impact of treatment facilities on their host neighborhoods, including the possibility of requiring facilities to provide transportation to their patients.
body
Recitals
Drug treatment centers and other chemical dependency programs provide a valuable public service and help many members of our communities in their efforts to turn their lives around. However, in Baltimore these facilities are not distributed evenly throughout the city and have instead become increasingly concentrated in geographically compact areas.
This over-concentration of large programs threatens to undermine the goals of the programs by making them inaccessible to many potential clients in need of assistance, and leaving broad sections of the city under-served. It also tends to exacerbate the strains caused by excessive patient foot traffic, as the treatment facilities threaten to dominate their host neighborhoods by significantly changing their character.
A potential solution to both of these problems would be to require chemical dependency programs with 75 or more active participants everyday to provide transportation to their patients through targeted buses, or some other method. This possible solution should be explored with treatment providers, as well as the State and local agencies that regulate and support them.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Council requests that representatives from the City and State agencies that regulate and support chemical dependency treatment programs appear before it to discuss steps that can be taken to make treatment more accessible to residents of areas far from existing facilities while minimizing the impact of treatment facilities on their host neighborhoods, including the possibility of requiring facilities to provide transportation to their patients.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Health Commissioner, the Director of the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration, the President & CEO of Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
dlr12-0299~intro/13Aug12
ccres/RehabBus/tw