Private status for Council is best
Pub Date: 5/1/2006
The Montana Council (MCPG) has for nearly six years organized and administered treatment programs for people afflicted with gambling compulsions. They also offer training for counselors who want to begin treating those with gambling problems.
The council's budget has remained manageable, mostly through vigilance in keeping down administrative overhead. Council President Mark Kennedy recently said 90 percent of the group's funding goes to pay treatment providers. That is exemplary.
The MCPG has received funding from gaming business organizations and private companies including Town Pumps, and gaming businesses have also been funding a 24-hour help-line as well as paying to publicize the programs and services.
All these efforts have paid off. More treatment providers have been trained and certified, more group therapy sessions are being run in more locations, and more folks with true gambling problems have found out about the program and are seeking and receiving treatment.
The program has grown to about five times its original size and needs an increase in funding. Should this come from a legislative appropriation?
At a recent meeting of state officials as well as members of the Gaming Advisory Council, the MCPG and industry reps, the strings that would attach to such a step became visible.
First, it was suggested a study be conducted to gauge the extent of the problem, building on a study done in 1998 for the 1999 Legislature.
Then there was discussion on the need to institute new licensing standards for providers and staffing of a licensing administration.
Next, it was noted any funding would have to be administered by a government agency, which would necessitate funding for staff positions.
Finally, it was made clear that follow-up efficacy studies would need to be made to assure the money was well spent and the treatment effective.
This is the government process that taxpayers demand in order to provide some accountability for the money citizens contribute and government spends. And it is an approach with merit, having evolved over decades.
However, what sometimes gets lost in the process is the problem itself and the means to fix it. How far would a government (aka "tax") appropriation go in providing actual treatment, when the bureacracy would require money also be spent for benchmark studies, licensing authority, funding administration and more studies to determine results?
Remember, we are talking about a potential deficit in the MCPG budget. And business groups told the Gaming Advisory Council April 21 they will find the money to erase the red ink. The GAC asked representatives of the Montana Counbcil on Problem Gambling to report back in July on their progress.
One thing about business owners is that they have by necessity become adept at keeping the books in the black. They do this by driving revenues, cutting expenses or both. What We're hearing is the approach being explored calls for enhancing MCPG income. We're confident business groups will figure out a way to raise the money and fix the problem.
We applaud the efforts of government administrators to tackle difficult social problems, then to assure taxpayers the money required is well spent. That is simply good government.
But we also should heed the warnings of more than one legislator who cautioned that a move to secure government funding can be a slippery slope. It could, they said, ultimately mean a privately funded and administered program might quickly be co-opted by bureaucracies and burgeon into a substantial new government program.
We were gratified to hear MCPG's President Kennedy and Executive Director Donna Johnson, business representatives, and now the Gaming Advisory Council. all say they are opposed to turning this small but efficient program over to the state.
In this case, keeping the MCPG treatment program private and fully funded seems to be the wisest choice.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May, 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.