Drug Rehab Center in Florida Will Stay Open Thanks to County Funding

Drug rehab center "The Starting Place" will remain temporarily open thanks to government funding. The Florida county Broward recently announced that they will continue to provide money to the outpatient and in-home drug abuse and mental treatment services for the teen rehabilitation center, despite the fact that there were child abuse allegations and mismanagement claims, which caused the state to shutter the center's residential programs last week.

The unanimous vote took place after more than two hours of debate and the tearful pleadings from parents like Jill Varrichio, who begged the commission to continue the services provided by The Starting Place, which has facilities in Hollywood and Plantation. "I feel like now we have no one," Varrichio, who has a 17-year-old daughter, told the commission as she started to cry. "She doesn't have the people who cared about her in our life. She doesn't have the support. I don't have the support. The Starting Place really helped change my child's life." Pleas like this are what ultimately kept the drug rehab center open.

Broward County has set aside more than $630,000 to pay for outpatient and in-home care for about 500 drug addicted teenagers. That money will continue to flow to those programs for another 30 days while the Department of Children & Families studies whether the mismanagement and abuse allegations extend to the outpatient programs. About 45 teens at the rehab center's Hollywood facility had to find another place to live when DCF revoked The Starting Place's residential license Thursday. The state agency cited mismanagement and a second criminal investigation that involves child abuse charges.

Broward County's Human Services Department also cut its annual funding to the program immediately following the DCF decision. DCF has not pulled the license for the center's outpatient programs. While the county continues to provide funding, a DCF staff member will be at the drug rehab center while the services are provided and, in light of an embezzlement investigation at the center's Plantation facility, the county and DCF will be checking to see that the money is used to provide services and isn't diverted elsewhere. During the debate, commissioners said they didn't want to see services interrupted for children at the center while the state continued to look into potential problems. ''I think we all know what happened at The Starting Place at the end of last week,'' Commissioner Sue Gunzburger said.

Based on discussions last week with DCF and The Starting Place board, the county's Human Services Department had recommended that the county terminate all of its agreements with the treatment center because of a second criminal investigation and because of ''significant and serious'' organizational problems, including inadequate security, lack of staff supervision and the absence of other oversight and internal controls. Jack Moss, regional director for DCF, also said on Tuesday other employees didn't make the required abuse hot line calls when they learned about the abuse. But Gunzburger urged the commission to keep The Starting Place's nonresidential programs open. And more than two dozen parents, teenagers and other supporters asked the commission to preserve the drug rehab center's programs.