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Page 3 .. costs involved in arrests, jailir~js, and court proceedings, and, at the same time, ~)rovide an ine:~pensJve ant! effective method of alcobo] witi~¢lrawal that allows the opportunity to direct the alcohoJlc into treatment. IV. The ~oncept and Progrdm of t:on-itospi~al Detoxification I. The concept of the non-hospital ~del fo~ detoxification is that of providing a non-threatening, co~fortable and relaxed setting for the individual in withdrawal from alcoho ¥~ithout the aid Of medications. The comfortable surroundings reduce the likelihoo~ of need for medical care The experiments with social ~etox in ~anada in the 60's revealed that alcoholics normally hospitalized could be with- drBw~ from alcohol safely and without medical attention. After screening out those who 0bviousiy needed medical care. sucb as for in~'uries, heart condition, D.T.'s, or coma, only about 5% of those referred to the social ~etox program n~eded any kind of medical attention. Of the 5% needing medical care, only half of these needed to be hospitalized. Similar programs in California and ilorth Carolina have had tile same experiences. 2. ~oth m01e and Female ~vill be admitted to ~he social detox program. Admissions will be made ti~rough the Hental IIealtb Centers' Emergency Service. Clinicians on call 24 hours a day will assist the calling party in determining the appropriate- ness of the admission, screening out those who obviously need medlca) attention, and will make the referral to the detox facility. Ti~e detox staff, also, when the client arrives at the facili~y~ will ~i~ake an evaluation of each person being referred before admission is granted. Any wino in the opinion of the facility staff need to be seer, by a physician will be referred immediatley for medical care. 3. ~ledical back-up services will be essenti.at to the program. The screening and referral services ~n each county will attempt to 'nsure ~hat those needing medical C~l-e are directed firs~ to a physician, or the hospital emergency room, n the country of residence. After admission to the detox facility medical emergencies will be sent to the ~ab~rrus ~lemoria] ]~ospita] em~rgeocy room. 4. The social detox staff will consist of a~ alcoholism coenselor, who will serve as program coordinator, and four fnll-time and two part-time health care technicians. The nrogram coordinator will be responsible for supervising the care of the patients, counseling services to the patients and members of their families, and linking all patients to outpatient counseling and other community resources~ Folio,~-up con,acts w~th each discharged patient will be made ~y ti~e detox and Hental IIealth Centers Alcoholism staff members. (See attached flow chart). V. Fnnd~ng i. The entire costs for initiating the social detox program,; including furnishings and equipment, and the cost of operating the program ~hrough the current fiscal year, will be paid from the Federa] Operations Grant. IIopefully~ by July~l, 1979, we will be able to share in the use of $1 million expected to be appropriated by the llorth ~arotina General Assembly to help implement ~touse ~ill 802. I~e have already sub~ii~ted a request for these funds and expect, to have a~out $50,000 committed to Piedmont Area for operating the detox facility for 1979 - 80. ~e expect the State funds ~o be cootinuing in future years and the Federal Grant is for eigh~ years with possible annual emergency renewals thereafter. The Federal