Gambling addiction treatment provider closes

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By Tom Saul | Tuesday, August 19, 2008 |

An agency that provided treatment for problem gamblers in nine eastern Iowa counties, including Clinton and Scott, was abruptly shut down at the end of July after the state withdrew funding and canceled its contract.

Eastern Iowa Center for Problem Gambling shut down offices in Davenport, Clinton, Washington and Cedar Rapids and laid off its nine employees. As many as 50 clients now have to seek help for gambling problems from agencies in Dubuque, Iowa City or Burlington.

Specific reasons for the cancellation are unclear, but Mark Vander Linden, director of gambling treatment for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said a plan for future service to clients submitted by Eastern Iowa was not satisfactory and a recent audit of its existing contract “found a number of performance and contract issues.”

“There was a complete investigation done, and that led to the contract issues,” Vander Linden said of a complaint about Eastern Iowa received in February. “It all came back to contract issues. We did not find the services they were required to provide to be adequate.”

Vander Linden was interviewed as he attended a conference in Washington, D.C., and said he did not have access to documents that would provide more specific information on the complaint and issues that led the Department of Public Health to sever its relationship with Eastern Iowa.

Janet Meisenbach, director of Eastern Iowa and a counselor at its Davenport office, said she was never made aware of the nature of the complaint and that details on issues involving performance under the contract were scant. State officials repeatedly canceled meetings or conference calls to discuss deficiencies in the plan for future service.

The cancellation of the contract came abruptly, Meisenbach said. A letter from the agency was received on July 28 or 29 informing Eastern Iowa that there would be no further funding after the end of the month. A July 1 letter received by Eastern Iowa extending its contract for an additional month gave no indication of the impending actions.

“Some of the information they asked for were for projections on need and services we should provide, guestimations,” Meisenbach said. “We never got guidance on how we should proceed. We ran the program for them for a long time, and there were no complaints in all those years.”

The Department of Public Health is under a mandate from the Iowa Legislature to provide treatment and counseling for problem gamblers. It receives small portions of state proceeds from the Iowa Lottery, casino gambling and other sources to pay for it.

The agency, in turn, divides the state into 11 service areas and contracts with organizations that offer counseling or treat addictions to provide the services. Eastern Iowa had a contract with the state for more than 10 years.

With cancellation of Eastern Iowa’s contract, Meisenbach said, treatment for some of its clients could be disrupted, causing harm in some cases. But Vander Linden said all clients of Eastern Iowa have been notified in writing that they are eligible for treatment by other providers, and he expects no disruptions in treatment.

Burlington-based Alcohol & Drug Dependency Services of Southeast Iowa, which will treat clients in Scott County, will also explore the idea of opening an office in Davenport in coming months, Vander Linden said.

“In Scott County, there is a high need for treatment,” Vander Linden said, noting that three casinos operate in the Quad-Cities. “In the 2010 fiscal year, we may look at other options for providing service there.”

Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.

For help

Scott County residents needing help with gambling problems now can contact Alcohol & Drug Dependency Services of Southeast Iowa in Burlington, Iowa. The agency can be contacted at (319) 753-6567 or by e-mail at information@addsiowa.org. Problem gambling services for those in immediate crisis may be obtained by contacting a 24-hour toll-free hot line at (866) 479-9659.