A local residential program that treats mothers with substance abuse problems will not close in a few weeks, as officials originally feared.

The Freeman Center has learned the state will restore at least 40 percent of a $500,000 grant it previously had given the program, executive director Dan Worley said.

The number of women served may have to be scaled back because of the smaller grant amount. But at least the program can stay open, he said.

The Freeman Center on Columbus Avenue in Waco has learned the state will restore at least 40 percent of a previous grant.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

That’s a far better fate than the center faced earlier this summer. It was told all funding for the program would be cut for the coming fiscal year, which starts Sept. 1.

Worley credited the turnaround to community action. Waco’s state representatives, Democrat Jim Dunnam and Republican Charles “Doc” Anderson, sprang into action when they heard the grant was canceled, he said.

And people across the region called state leaders to express concern, he said.

“We’ve had a ton of community support about this,” Worley said. “(State leaders) heard that, and they listened.”

The program provides residential treatment to mothers and pregnant women with drug and alcohol problems.

What makes it different from other programs is women can bring their children with them. Many of the women are single mothers and wouldn’t enter treatment without that option, Worley said.

During the 90-day program, the women receive substance abuse treatment, as well as instruction in skills such as parenting and money management. The children are cared for by staff.

When the nonprofit center learned it was not getting the grant this year, officials were puzzled.

Freeman has gotten the funding every year since 2001, with the money making up one-sixth of its overall budget.

The best he can figure, Worley said, is that the center’s proposal was initially rejected because it did not use certain “buzz words.”

Whatever the case, at least 40 percent of the funding will be restored. The center could get as much as 60 percent back, he said.

Board president Kathleen Gray said she appreciates the state’s willingness to reconsider its decision.

“This is the most important program of all the services we offer,” Gray said.

Christine DeLoma, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which administers the grant, said she could not comment since negotiations are ongoing.

But one reason the state re-examines grant decisions, she said, is when a funding cut would leave a region with a gap in services.

Previously, the department said the situation stemmed from the fact that it has less money to award to substance abuse programs.

To help offset the reduced amount of state money, the center is looking for other funding sources, Worley said.

One thing that will help, starting in January, is that the state’s Medicaid program will begin paying for adult substance abuse treatment outside of a hospital setting.

That benefit should help fund care for about 25 percent of women who enter the program, he said.

Medicaid is a joint state-federal program that primarily serves the poor.

For the time being, though, the center may have to cut back from serving an average of eight women at a time to five, Worley said.

“It’s going to be touch-and- go until the Medicaid thing comes on line,” Worley said.

cculp@wacotrib.com

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