THE director of the island’s confidential Drugs Advice Service and Helpline (DASH) has pledged to fight to keep the service running.
Shelly Stanley fears that DASH will be forced to close after the Department of Social Care announced it would be withdawing key funding at the end of August.
A supporter has set up an online petition on Facebook to save the service.
Miss Stanley said: ‘We have a responsibility to our clients and the Isle of Man community to maintain confidential drugs services. We will use all the resources we have to ensure services continue – until the very last.’
Miss Stanley said the funding cut came out of the blue – far from expecting the government to pull its funding, the charity had been hoping to sign a new contract with the department.
She said: ‘We were aware we were still waiting to sign a contract and had no indication that funding was going to be withdrawn before the meeting on Wednesday morning.
‘We were expecting a cut to our budget like everyone else, and we were prepared to make changes to absorb that, but were not expecting six months’ notice for the funding to end. Clearly the staff and the committee are shocked and concerned, not only about the service, but for the clients and the community that we work with and are currently considering our options.’
From August 31, the department is withdrawing the £84,456.96 funding it provides for DASH’s adult services plus the £25,000 for a part-time young persons worker. The charity has been told it can apply for a grant of £20,000 towards the cost of running the helpline.
DASH, based in a discreet office in Douglas, provides confidential support to drug users, including young people and their families. It has dealt with clients aged from children as young as 11 to adults in their mid 70s.
The biggest addiction problems are with cannabis and cocaine, heroin and prescription-only medication.
In a statement, the Department of Social Care said the ‘activity levels’ for the adult and young persons components of DASH had been ‘far lower than anticipated’ and a review of what it called ‘under-used’ services had indicated that ‘better value can be achieved by providing services in a different way’.
An ‘alternative service model’ would be initiated in August, the department said, with an announcement in the ‘coming few months’.
But DASH says that in 2010/11 it dealt with 206 new contacts to the adult services and 73 referrals to its young persons service, with similar numbers in the current financial year.
Miss Stanley said the charity had a 70 to 75 per cent success rate for clients leaving the service drug-free.
Getting people back into work and off benefits, their mental health problems being managed, having fewer ‘dealers’ and more support for families trying to cope with another’s drug use means the immediate and long-term benefits outweigh the income received from government, said Miss Stanley.
Social Care Minister Chris Robertshaw said: ‘This development is an example of the department’s commitment to the island’s drug and alcohol strategy and to wider fiscal challenges and responsibilities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank DASH for all their hard work and wish them well for the future.’
DASH’s director said a government service could put off some clients.
Miss Stanley said: ‘There is a huge stigma about drug use. If social services get involved it could mean the end of someone’s job if their employer found out.
‘The ramifications for individuals are immense. Hence the confidential service means that those who wouldn’t or couldn’t go to a government body for help would at least get help. We are not aware of the provision the government proposes to provide for supporting families on a one-to-one basis.
‘We are street based and usually first to spot changes in drug use and problems, as we did with Mephedrone. Had that been left to get out of control, then we would certainly be looking at a very big problem now. Although it and other legal highs are still in use, the levels are not as high as they were.’