Paperwork Reduction

With the recent biennial budget passed in the state of Ohio advocating a 28% cut to the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, substance abuse treatment providers have been forced to creatively figure out methods to spend less while still treating those in need. With prescription drug overdoses becoming the leading cause of accidental death in our state, suicide rates at a five-year high, and thousands of Ohioans already unable to receive the treatment they badly need, it is imperative that cost-cutting measures be encouraged by state agencies in the current economic climate. By granting the variances currently requested, treatment providers will see a decrease in duplicative efforts and forms and an increase in their time and ability to help those in need of treatment. In the current economy and with the present budget, time is of the essence and the more quickly we see these bureaucratic hurdles lowered, the more efficiently we will be able to offer treatment.