We don’t normally send emails like this, but we need your help.
On Friday, Crossroads for Women received the recommendations that the Office of Substance Abuse (OSA), a division of DHHS, is forced to make in an attempt to keep treatment available in our state. These recommendations essentially dismantle Maine’s substance abuse treatment system as we know it.
If these suggestions go into effect, Crossroads for Women will lose $855,089 and be forced to close all of its residential programs. This is on top of a 24% cut we were hit with last year from the MaineCare rate standardization. We have made drastic cuts in programming, staff and administrative costs. There is simply nowhere left to cut.
Currently, we run a short-term Residential Rehab (which has served women since 1974), a long-term halfway house and Maine’s only residential program for women and their children. We serve women from all around the state in these programs because there is simply no other programming for women with a focus on their specific needs. For the last ten years, we have served 1,927 women alone through our Residential Rehab program with only 15 beds. Of those women, 73% completed treatment, an extremely high success rate.
Maine already leads the nation in painkiller abuse.
What happens when we can’t treat those that are addicted?
We help women get their lives back, find jobs, reunite with their children, stay out of jail, contribute to their communities….The list goes on and on.
We all end up paying more in the end if we take away residential substance abuse treatment services. We are asking you to help us educate people on what is going on and how it’s going to affect everyone in Maine. There will be a public hearing on Friday, March 11 starting at 10am. Please use the links and documents in the Take Action side bar for more information on contacting your legislators or testifying. We’ve also included links to documents with more info on the proposed cuts, impact on Crossroads and the cost of substance abuse in Maine.
Now is the time to make your voice heard. Tell your representatives why residential treatment is important.
Speak from the heart. Share your story.
They need to hear from all of us.
Take Action
