NATCHEZ &045; Adams County’s drug court has to send offenders to an out-of-region center for treatment because the center they used previously has raised its rates and eliminated more convenient payment arrangements.

That is what Sharon Johnson, the county’s representative on the board of Southwest Mississippi Mental Health, told the Board of Supervisors this week.

The county did send offenders to the New Haven Treatment Center in Brookhaven, which charged $550 per person and let the county pay half of the money up front and half later.

But recently, the center raised its rates to $850 and insisted all the money be paid up front, Johnson said.

Therefore, the county is now sending those who need treatment to a facility in Vicksburg, which is outside the mental health region that includes Adams County.

That center, Johnson said, charges $500 per person and lets half be paid now and half later.

In Monday’s meeting, Supervisors President Darryl Grennell pointed out that the county appropriates $77,000 a year to Southwest, which runs New Haven, and that such services are sorely needed.

&uot;Many individuals, when they are ready to get help (for drug addiction), don’t have the resources to get help,&uot; Grennell said.

But Dr. Steve Ellis, Southwest’s executive director, said the reason costs for the program went up is that New Haven’s treatment was extended from 30 to 42 days.

&uot;There was no way we could continue to operate the extended program&uot; with the old rates, Ellis said.

Ellis said rates are based on an income-based sliding fee scale and that clients that live in Southwest’s 10-county service region can, based on that scale, get discounts of up to 90 percent on the regular rates.

&uot;The rates are $6,000, but based on their income, a person could (undergo) treatment for just $600,&uot; Ellis said.

As far as the changes in payment arrangement go, Ellis said New Haven now asks for all the money up front because it wasn’t getting the other half.

&uot;But that’s not just Adams County,&uot; said Kelly Sims, who directs New Haven. &uot;We rarely got the other half from anyone.&uot;

Southwest’s board approved the rate and payment arrangements changes several months ago, and the changes went into effect at the start of May.

In any case, Sheriff Ronny Brown told supervisors having such centers available costs taxpayers less than housing them in jail and said the ideal solution would be for an entrepreneur to open such a facility in Adams County.

&uot;It’s a profitable business, and that money could stay at home,&uot; Brown said.

Grennell asked Board Attorney Bob Latham at Monday’s meeting to contact representatives of Southwest to ask them to meet with supervisors regarding the situation.