Los Angeles County will receive about $10.4 million dollars in federal stimulus funds to pay for addiction treatment programs. The funds will be channeled through California’s Emergency Management Agency. The money will be used to improve and expand drug counseling, residential detoxification and other programs in the county.
More than $3 million dollars more may be available to Los Angeles County if other counties in the state opt out of the plan to provide similar services in their communities.
Many community based drug programs were originally sponsored through state funding for Proposition 36. The proposition mandated treatment in lieu of jail time for people convicted of non-violent drug possession crimes. The 2009-10 state budget, however, eliminated funding for Proposition 36 in California.
If was not certain if the federal money would allow for more addicts to receive treatment in the Los Angeles area or if it would simply fill a void in state funding.
Los Angeles County officials do expect an increased demand for addiction treatment and other mental health programs as prisoners are released into the community under a parole reform law which went into effect in January.
