Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Staff Changes at GCASA

Kim Corcoran, GCASA's Director of Human Resources, sent this report to all GCASA staff on 09/17/08. It may be of interest to others who read this blog as well.

Both clinics competed interviews and are fully staffed for the first time since late 2007. The following are the list of new hires:

Internal changes

Kathy Cecere - Promoted from the Collocation Mentor to the Collocation Substance Abuse Specialist position in Livingston County.

Sarah Edwards - Moved from the 822 clinic to the 857 Gambling program as the Gambling Specialist in Genesee County.

Laura Lynch - Promoted from the Enhanced Case Management position to a Chemical Dependency counselor in the Genesee clinic.

Charlene Grimm - She moved from her position as Livingston County Collocation Substance Abuse Specialist to a position as a Substance Abuse Counselor in the women's program at the Genesee County clinic.

New Hires

Dawn Bumbarger - Hired as a Substance Abuse Counselor in Orleans County. She recently relocated from the Syracuse area where she worked as a counselor for the past seven years. She is a CASAC-T

Sherri Newman - Hired as the Enhanced Case Manager in Genesee county. Sherri worked for ABW in a women's shelter in Rochester NY. She attended SUNY Brockport in the Health Science program with a concentration in Substance Abuse counseling. She is a CASAC-T

Rebecca Carr - Hired as a Adolescent Counselor in Orleans County. Rebecca worked for DePaul in their downtown detox program. She has an Associates Degree in Alcohol and Substance Abuse studies from FLCC and is currently working on her Bachelors from Empire State College. She also interned with Parkridge Chemical Dependency. She is a CASAC-T

Mary Lou Szewezyk - Hired as the mentor for the Genesee County Collocation (para-professional position). Mary Lou worked for Curves in Batavia ny. She has Bachelors degree in English and has taken graduate courses in social work.

Drug Courts - Charles Evans recently became the Forensic Liaison for the Genesee County Drug Court and for Genesee Justice agency.

Orleans County DOC early release program has expanded the contract to include felony DWI prisoners. On the average we service 10-12 women from Orleans County correctional facility....this new contract should raise the census to 12-15 at any given time.

Kathy Hodgins (assistant director of satellite and forensic services in Orleans county) has recovered from surgeryand came back to work in late September.

Orleans United Against Substance Abuse meeting at Tillman's on October 8


The next meeting of Orleans United Against Substance Abuse will be a breakfast meeting at Tillman's Village Inn at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. Orleans United is the Drug Free Communities coalition in Orleans County.

For more information and to reserve a seat at the free breakfast meeting contact Orleans County United Drug Free Communties Coordinator, Kaitlin Smith at 585-589-0055, x319 or email her at ksmith@gcasa.org

Mike Laycock describes the GCASA's Victim Impact Panel

Mike Laycock, coordinator of GCASA's Victim Impact Panel, describes the VIP. This is part 1 of 2 and lasts 4:28.



Mike Laycock continues description of Victim Impact Panel and discusses the need for panel speakers. This is part 2 of 2. This video lasts 2:59.



Here is part of David Markham's story which he tells on the DWI Impact Panel. He has entitled this story "Intimacy Is A Matter Of The Heart". Video lasts 7:38

Genesee County DWI arrests decline and yet larger budget is proposed

According to an article in the Thursday, September 18, 2008 Daily News, Assistant County Manager, Frank Ciaccia has proposed a larger STOP-DWI budget of $400,000.00 for 2009 even though it is anticipated that DWI arrests will be down.

There were 502 DWI arrests in Genesee County in 2004, 482 in 2005, 396 in 2006, and 347 in 2007. Whether this is a function of arrests or a decrease in the phenomenon is hard to tell, but most observers would like to think there is actually a decrease in drunk driving itself.

Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Dr. Charles B. King, Medical Director at GCASA discusses prescription pain pill abuse

Dr. Charles B. King discusses prescription pain pill abuse. Video lasts 9:03

Friday, September 26, 2008

Cheryle McCann, RN, CASAC describes GCASA's Opiate Treatment Program

Cheryle MCann, RN, CASAC gave a great presentation to the GCASA board at their board meeting on 09/24/08 on the Opiate Treatment Services program offered by GCASA. Cheryle is the Opiate Treatment Services Coordinator for GCASA. She works closely with Dr. Charles King, GCASA's medical director, Barb Bowman, CASAC-T the Opiate Treatment Specialist in the Batavia clinic and all the treatment staff in both Genesee and Orleans Counties.

Here is the outline that Cheryle distributed to board members to follow along as she gave her talk.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.

Page one



Page 2



The video of Cheryle's presentation is in 3 parts and takes about 21 minutes altogether.

Part 1 takes about 8:41



Part 2 takes about 9:58



Part 3 takes about 1:48

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Prescription drug abuse with Dr. Scott Davis at Betty Ford Center

Prescription drug abuse with Dr. Scott Davis and his wife, Rebecca.

Video lasts 2:03.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Genesee County Drug Free Commnities Youth Activities - Kevin Keenan

Yesterday, Tuesday, September 23, 2008, Kevin Keenan, a prevention educator at GCASA, described the activities the Drug Free Communities youth are involved in such as Red Ribbon Week, SUPA (Students United For Positive Action) and Everyday Heroes.

For example, this Friday, September 26th from 6:30 - 9:30 PM SUPA and Reality Check will be sponsoring a dance for teens at Genesee Community College in the Forum.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.



Kevin also described a program called Everyday Heroes where youth who promise to be drug free can have a postcard or poster made up to be hung in their schools. Here is a flier that further describes this activity.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.



Kevin also provided a calendar of events for SUPA activities throughout the school year from September 2008 - June 2009.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.



You can reach Kevin at 585-815-1875 or email him at kkeenan@gcasa.org

Here is a video of Kevin's presentation at the 09/23/08 meeting of the Genesee County Drug Free Communities Coalition. The video lasts 6:46

Genesee County Drug Free Communities Coalition recognizes members for their good work at its meeting on 09/23/08

Maryann Bowman, GCASA's Director of Prevention, recognized some of the members of Genesee Counties Drug Free Communities coalitions for their contributions and good work.

She recognized members of the Senior Advisory Committee: Reyburn Campbell, Helen Batchellor, Jean and Gary Johnson, and the late Paul West.

Maryann also recognized Jeannie Burdick, an Adjunct Professor and Personal Counselor at Genesee Community College, Dawn Zeh, Genesee County Career & Job Development Bureau & concerned parent, and Heidi Meides-Judge and Batavia High School Substancer Abuse Counselor.

Congratulations to the recognition recipients! Video lasts 5:33

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Long Island nonprofit says "no" to its share of lottery winnings


The Associated Press reported on Friday, September 12, 2008 that a Long Island nonprofit, The Lighthouse Mission, turned down its share of winnings of a $3 million dollar lottery ticket. Here is part of what the article says:

A New York charity says it has turned down a share of a $3 million lottery jackpot because accepting the money could send the wrong message to gambling addicts.

The Lighthouse Mission, which helps feed 3,000 hungry Long Island residents a week, had been chosen to share an anonymous donor's jackpot last month. The donor gave the winning ticket to the True North Community Church, which said it would share the money with other charities.

The mission's pastor, James Ryan, says he appreciates the offer but had to turn it down because his organization counsels against addictions, including gambling. He did not say what the mission's share of the prize would have been.


GCASA has a policy that we do not accept grants and donations from breweries and distilleries and tobacco companies. In 2006, when the Genesee County Drug Free Communities coalition won the Got Outcomes Coalition of the year from CADCA we refused the donation from Pharma, the makers of Oxycontin. Similarly GCASA does not sponsor raffles or other gambling activities and similarly would not accept money from gambling wins and proceeds.

Maryann Bowman and Shannon Ford describe new prevention grants at GCASA

First video lasts 2:20



Video lasts 6:19

Monday, September 22, 2008

"Parental Substance Abuse: The Impact on Families and Effective Programs To Help" on Internet radio, Wednesday, 9/24 at 2:00 PM

“On-the-Line” with CWLA
“Parental Substance Abuse: The Impact on Families and Effective Programs to Help”

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

LIVE
11:00am – 11:30am Pacific Daylight Time

This broadcast will be from 2:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern Time.

...featuring Nancy Young, Director of the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare and Sara Tienda, Assistant Director of SHIELDS for Families. We invite you to listen in on their conversation about the impact of parental substance abuse on families, how families and communities are coming together to help, and what resources and effective programs are out there.

Nancy Young, currently Executive Director of Children and Family Futures, Irvine, California has worked as a consultant for more than 30 states and regional offices on prevention and treatment issues affecting families involved with welfare and child welfare. Dr. Young also serves as the Director of the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, which is supported by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families / Children’s Bureau and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration / Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

Sara Tienda, Assistant Director of SHIELDS for Families, a Los Angeles nonprofit dedicated to developing, delivering, and evaluating culturally sensitive, comprehensive service models that empower and advocate for families affected by substance abuse and child abuse.

Anyone who wants to listen to the LIVE Internet broadcast of “On-the-Line” with CWLA on Wednesday at 11:00am Pacific Time should go online.
Go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CWLA-Radio

Women who binge drink are at higher risk for unsafe sex and STDs


Science Daily reported on September 15, 2008 on a study which will appear in the November, 2008 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research which found that women who binge drink are at greater risk for unsafe sex and STDs. Clinicians have known this for years, but it is validating to now have some research evidence of what was clinically known. Here is a snippet from the article in Science Daily:

Binge drinking (5+ alcoholic beverages at one time) is associated with risky sexual behaviors. A new study is one of the few to examine this association by gender in an urban clinic for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Results show that binge drinking among women attending the clinic was linked to unsafe sexual practices – such as multiple partners and anal sex – and high rates of gonorrhea.
"The link between binge drinking and risky sexual behavior is complex," said Heidi E. Hutton, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as well as corresponding author for the study. "We wanted to examine one component of that relationship, whether binge drinking increased the risk of engaging in sexual behaviors and having STDs. We found gender differences in binge drinking among patients at an STD clinic, and also that binge drinking increased STD risk for women."

Friday, September 19, 2008

New adolescent counselor at GCASA's Albion clinic - Rebecca Carr

Rebecca Carr is the new adolescent counselor at GCASA's Albion clinic.

Video lasts 1:49

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Biochemical measures can detect unreported alcohol abuse


The on-line journal, Current Psychiatry, has a good article on the use of bio-markers to detect unreported alcohol abuse. Here is a brief snippet from the article:

Hospitalized patients who are not truthful about their alcohol consumption may be at risk for an unplanned withdrawal. Self-reports of alcohol use—such as CAGE and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)—are valid, inexpensive, and noninvasive, but patients easily can feign results.1 Biochemical measures are more objective, and combinations of markers are an effective tool to detect recent heavy drinking in the 10% to 25% of patients who underreport alcohol use.2

Biochemical measures can detect acute alcohol intoxication and recent prolonged drinking. Because marker levels return to normal after long-term abstinence, ongoing monitoring can help detect a relapse before a patient admits to it.3

This article presents 3 cases in which biochemical markers helped prevent alcohol withdrawal in patients who denied alcohol abuse. We discuss why we ordered biochemical tests and which combinations provided highly sensitive results.


You can access the article by clicking here.

Comments welcome on GCASA Cares blog


Your comments are welcome on the GCASA Cares blog. Please let me and others reading the blog know what your thoughts, ideas, and questions are. Please leave you comments so we know what you like, what you don't like, what you find helpful and unhelpful. Add your knowledge and experience and we all will be enriched.

Also, email the articles you like and think others would find interesting and useful. You will find a button at the bottom of each article.

Thanks for you help,

David Markham

GCASA's Albion Clinic - Meet Roxanne Muoio, Assistant Director of Treatment

You can click on images to enlarge.

GCASA serves primarily Genesee and Orleans counties. It's main clinics are in Batavia, NY and Albion, NY the county seats of Genesee and Orleans Counties respectively. GCASA also has satellite clinics in LeRoy and Indian Falls in Genesee County, and in Holley and Medina in Orleans County.

Today, I visited our Albion clinic, saw a client, and then talked briefly with Roxanne Muoio, the Assistant Director of Treatment for Orleans County. Roxanne and her staff do a great job.

Here is a video of her chat with me. I will post our interviews with her two new staff, Rebecca Carr, and Dawn Bumburger in later posts to the blog.

Video lasts about 4:00

9th Annual GCASA Awards Dinner on October 18, 2008

The 9th annual GCASA awards dinner is coming up on Saturday, October 18, 2008, at GCC, Genesee Community College at 6:00 PM.

GCASA's mission is to improve community health, reduce stigma towards people with substance abuse disorders, and work across systems for positive community change. The annual awards dinner is a formal occasion once per year when GCASA carries out the third part of its mission - to work across systems for positive change - to recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate the work of people and organizations who contibute to the health of our community and improve the quality of life. We, at GCASA, hope you will come and celebrate the good work of others in our community.
We hope to see you there.

For more information click here.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Problem Gambing Treatment Services at GCASA

Sarah Edwards, B.S., CASAC is GCASA's gambling treatment specialist. She can be reached at 585-343-1124.

The video lasts 4:22

Friday, September 12, 2008

Red Ribbon Week preparations

Behind the scenes with Maryann Bowman and Sheri Bensely as they talk with Dave Markham about the preparations for Red Ribbon Week which is the last week of October, 2008. This video was completely spontaneous and obviously not edited. It was shot on 09/11/08 and lasts about 2:09. This is the first attempt to capture and use video on the GCASA Cares web blog. Hopefully, videos will be better as the skills of yours truly increase.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Fast Facts - Gambling - Orleans County, NY



Did you know that over half the students in Orleans County in grades 6 - 12 reported that they had gambled in the previous year?

Did you know that there are several hundred gambling outlets within 75 miles from Orleans County from the swank Casino Niagara to the K&K on the corner of Rts. 98 and 31?

Did you know that it is estimated that between 400 and 1,200 people in Orleans County may have serious problems because of their gambling?

Here is a brief fact sheet. Inform yourself and then share the information with others.

Click on image for easier reading

Should the drinking age be lowered back down to 18?


There has been a lot of debate recently, precipitated by college presidents in particular about dropping the drinking age back to 18 from 21.

This is a bad idea.

Increasing the drinking age to 21 has saved lives by reducing drunk driving fatalities. It is estimated that 900 18 -20 year old lives are saved per year which is over 25,000 since the minimum drinking age was increased. Other problems such as assault, property damage, rape, suicide, homicide and poisonings have also decreased.

Further the physical damage that excessive amounts of alcohol does to the developing adolescent brain, the gastro-intestinal tract, liver, etc. is reduced.

The likelihood that if young people drink alcohol they also will move on to other drugs such as nicotine, pot, cocaine, etc. is increased.

The further reduction in classroom success, work absenteeism due to "hangovers" etc., increased medical costs, is estimated to cost New Yorkers $3.2 billion per year, and Americans $60.3 billion.

Raising the drinking age to 21 has provided many public health benefits and increased the quality of life for individuals and their families.

To read the Press Release issued on Friday, August 29, 2008 by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse click here.

Use of Medicaid reimbursement for smoking cessation products has increased dramatically in New York State in last 8 years


Over 30% of New Yorkers on Medicaid smoke cigarettes compared with just 14% of those with private health insurance.

Medicaid began reimbursing for prescription smoking cessation products in October 1999 and for over-the-counter products in February 2000. About one million adults are enrolled in Medicaid in New York.

Since medicaid began reimbursing for smoking cessation products, the number of Medicaid claims and the number of recipients for these products has risen dramatically. This is important because New Yorkers on Medicaid are disproportionately affected by cigarette smoking.

Hopefully this will have long term health benefits for medicaid recipients and in the long run save money for the treatment of smoking related illnesses.


Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.


GA meeting beginning at GCASA


Sarah Edwards, GCASA's Gambling Treatment specialist, announced today, Friday, September 5, 2008 that GA, Gambler's Anonymous will be starting a meeting here in Batavia, NY on September 20, 2008 at 10:00 AM at GCASA, 430 East Main Street, Batavia, NY.



The first meeting will be an open meeting so anyone is welcome to attend.

If you would like more information, contact Sarah Edwards at 585-815-1853 or you email her at sedwards@gcasa.org

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Genesee County Mental Health Association is sponsoring a MICA open house 09/09/08

The Genesee County Mental Health Association will be having a MICA Open House on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at 25 Liberty Street. For more information, contact the GMHA at 344-2611. M.I.C.A. is an acronym which stands for Mental Illness/Chemical Abuse which simply refers to the idea that some people struggle with a psychiatric disorder and a substance abuse disorder.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.