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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2005)
TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS Ask Raven Siletz Tribal Alcohol & Drug Programs Raven will answer your questions about problems associated with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Look for boxes in tribal offices with Raven's picture. You can leave your questions for Raven in these boxes. Those questions suitable for Siletz News will be answered here. If you want a confidential answer to a question, please leave an address and Raven will contact you. Dear Raven: Why do some people get into residential treatment pretty fast and other people have to wait a long time. That seems wrong. Signed, Frustrated Dear Frustrated: Most people do not have private insurance or the Oregon Health Plan to help pay for residential treatment. In most cases, tribal funding is not available to pay for residential alcohol/drug treatment. Because of the lack of funds to pay for treatment, most people are put on a waiting list with a program that has pub licly funded beds. Some programs you may have heard about include NARA (Portland), Willamette Family Treatment (Eugene), and Crossroads (Roseburg). Once a person has had a full assess ment and pre-treatment physical exam, including going back to get the TB test read, the counselor can get that person on a waiting list at one of those programs. Sometimes we get lucky and a bed be comes available within a matter of weeks. Other times, it’s months before a person can get in. It depends completely on the number of referrals a program is getting at that time. I want to assure you that counselors work hard to get people into treatment. I also want to give you another im portant message, about pregnant mothers. We all know that women who drink alco hol and use drugs during their pregnancy put their children at risk of physical, be havioral, and learning problems that can affect them their whole lives. Because of this, women who are pregnant are placed at the top of any waiting list for residential treatment. So, Frustrated. I know this informa tion probably does not ease the frustra tion people feel when they are ready for treatment and have to wait. I do hope it helps you understand why that happens. What we all can do is support the people who are waiting to go into treat ment. Help them get rides to see their counselor or other activities like A A, NA, church, and cultural activities. Listen to them without judging. Let them know you care. Thanks for writing. Let me know if you have other questions about this diffi cult issue. Raven Methamphetamine, Part 2 Recovery There is hope for recovery. With that said, it’s important to know that the first year or more of recovery is not easy for the meth addict. The effects of meth on the brain are serious. Sometimes the brain will restore 6 • Siletz News • Prevention, Outpatient Treatment, and Women’s Transitional some of the damage and other times, the damage is lifelong. Pictures of the brain of a meth addict while actively using and then after a year of being clean and sober show that the brain is still impaired. Recovering addicts have trouble thinking about more than one thing at a time, or “multi-tasking.” They have trouble learning new information and a hard time remembering things they have recently learned. Counselors, family members, and other people who are part of the recovering addict’s support system need to adjust their expectations. Long conversations can be trying for the newly recovering addict. Visual (seeing) learning is better for them than auditory (sound) learning. Recovering meth addicts often have problems with anxiety and depression as a result of changes in brain chemistry. Many may need medication for a time to treat these symptoms. Siletz: 1-800-600-5599 or 541-444-8286 Eugene: 541-484-4234 Salem: 503-390-9494 Portland: 503-238-1512 sores and tooth decay. This can interfere with sleep and cause stomach problems. Watch for more information on meth amphetamine in future issues. If you are looking for specific information, please put your questions in the “Ask Raven” boxes that are located in all tribal offices. While some parents and guardians may feel relieved that their teen is “only” drinking, it’s important to remember that alcohol is a powerful mood-altering drug! Not only does alcohol affect the mind and body in often unpredictable ways, but teens lack the judgment and coping skills to handle alcohol wisely. As a result: ATOD and Youth Delinquency Prevention Parents, if you think your child may be at risk for alcohol, tobacco, or other drug problems and/or juvenile delin quency behaviors, please call Delina John or Jenifer Metcalf at I-800-600-5599 or 541-444-8286 One of them will talk with you about risk factors and those things that help pro tect your child from developing those problems. They will help you make a pre vention plan that will support you as a parent and provide your child with sup port for making good choices. Dental Problems Meth Task Force Meeting I j The Meth Task Force is open to all I community members - youth and adults. I Ifyou have questions or need more information, please call Janet or Delina at 541 -444-8286 or I -800-600-5599. You can make a difference! Please join us! • • • There is a new term that describes the dental condition of longtime meth users - “meth mouth.” Meth is the worst drug for teeth be cause it constricts blood vessels in the mouth. This reduces blood flow and im mune protection, so teeth do not get the nutrients they need and are more prone to infection. Meth users often grind their teeth without even knowing it, which is very hard on those teeth. So when people suf fer from meth mouth, they have mouth Nov. 2 - 5:30 p.m. Siletz Tribal Housing Department Conference Room • I I I I I Men! We still need adult male volunteers, even once a year, to chaperone a youth prevention activity. Please contact us if you have any interest! Underage Drinking Awareness Make a Difference - Talk to Your Child About Alcohol Parents, your child looks to you for guidance and support in making life decisions - including the decision not to use alcohol. Alcohol is a drug and it’s dangerous! The Risks of Alcohol For young people, alcohol is the No. 1 drug of choice. In fact, teens use alcohol more frequently and heavily than all other illicit drugs combined. Although most children under age 14 have not yet begun to drink, early ado lescence is a time of special risk for be ginning to experiment with alcohol. • Alcohol-related traffic crashes are a major cause of death among teens. Alcohol use also is linked with youth ful deaths by drowning, suicide, and homicide. Teens who use alcohol are more likely to become sexually active at earlier ages, to have sexual intercourse more often, and to have unprotected sex than teens who do not drink. Young people who drink are more likely than others to be victims of vio lent crime, including rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. Teens who drink are more likely to have problems with school work and school conduct. An individual who begins drinking as a young teen is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than someone who waits until adulthood to use alcohol. The message is clear: Alcohol use is very risky business for young people. The longer children delay alcohol use, the less likely they are to develop any problems associated with it. That’s why it’s so im portant to help your child avoid any alco hol use. I will give parents information on underage drinking awareness from month to month. To be a helpful resource, I am offering my services to any parent who wants to know more about the effects of alcohol and other drugs on their child. Ifyou do, please contact me, Delina John, Prevention coordinator at the Siletz Alcohol & Drug Department, at 1 -800-600-5599 or 541 -444-8267. Has Your Mailing Address Changed? When you update your address with the Enrollment Department, it does not mean we are notified of the new mailing address in the Siletz Tribal Housing Department's Rental Assistance Program (RAP). The Enrollment Department does notify the Accounting Department, how ever, for per capita and Contract Health Service for medical. November 2005 Recently, we had active applicants who had moved and did not notify us of their current mailing address. The appli cations, therefore, were in jeopardy of becoming inactive because of no re sponse. It’s the tribal members’ responsi bility to notify the Siletz Tribal Housing Department of their current mailing address. If you have any questions, you can reach the STHD office as follows: Mailing Address: P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549 Physical Address: 555 Tolowa Court, Siletz, Oregon Direct/Front Desk: 541-444-8322 Toll-free: 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1322 Fax:541-444-8313
