A.Strickler No Magic Bullet for Addicts 7.11.08
Drug counselors say the effort to get young heroin addicts clean is a marathon, not a sprint.BY ANDREW [email protected]
Content
A18
LONG ISLAND
‘No magic bullet’ to drug recovery
Counselors say parents’ efforts to help their kids battle heroin addiction involves long process
BY ANDREW STRICKLER
[email protected]
Power outage
Drug counselors and narcotics detectives liken the effort to combat heroin and save an addicted child to a maze, a nightmare, a 15-round heavyweight fight. “There is no magic bullet to this,” said John Venza of Outreach Project, which runs drug treatment centers on Long Island and in New York City. “A lot of parents think there must be a single thing to do and . . . say, ‘This is what we need to do.’ But it’s more of a long process.” As Long Islanders face what police say is the increasing use of a purer, more dangerous form of heroin, especially in southern Nassau County, the Ciappa family laid bare its struggle to save their daughter’s life. Victor and Doreen Ciappa found their daughter, Natalie, 18, dead in a Seaford rec room June 21 after she went to a party with friends. Although the exact cause of death has not yet been determined, Nassau officials on Wednesday linked the Plainedge High School student to a heroin ring operating primarily out of the Hempstead bus terminal. Among a dozen people recently arrested was Ciappa’s exboyfriend, Philip Ordaya, 21, of Massapequa, who police have charged with drug conspiracy. No definitive link has been made between the ring and the heroin Ciappa is believed to have taken before her death. A “Lucky 13” stamp on a packet of heroin Doreen Ciappa
www.newsday.com
NEWSDAY PHOTO / THOMAS A. FERRARA
Natalie Ciappa
YESTERDAY How Newsday covered the story found in her daughter’s bedroom before she died matched stamps on packets found during recent raids of the ring, according to Nassau police. Doreen Ciappa’s story of struggles with her daughter — attempts to convince her to enter rehab, a terrifying overdose, searches of her room — resonated with experts, who said many aspects of heroin addiction defy expectations and even reason. Parents of addicts “have to be
a little hardened,” said Barbara Keller, executive director of the Suffolk Coalition to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Dependencies. Keller and others said many parents hesitate to seek professional help for themselves and their families. “If you know your loved one; you know when something is not right,” she said. “Trust your instincts.” In addition to inpatient, outpatient and intervention services, parents can also go to Family Court, where a judge can order a child to undergo an evaluation period by a counselor, who can also guide the family to drug abuse services. Police and schools are also responding. In May, Nassau police met with representatives from more than 75 percent of county districts to learn about the spike in heroin use, according to Det. Lt. Kenneth Lack. Their reactions “ran the gamut from ‘Thank God you’re here and doing something,’ to others saying, ‘We don’t think the problem exists in our community,’ ” he said. Lack said the meeting, while primarily educational, put schools on notice. “Their responsibility is to contact the parents and say, ‘We think this child has a problem,’ ” he said. Det. Lt. Peter Donohue of Nassau’s Narcotics/Vice Squad said his team has gotten several calls in recent weeks from school officials for help understanding drug slang, but there are no heroin-related investigations under way that began with information from a school. “We’re looking for [schools] to be more proactive rather than reactive,” he said. “We want them to take the first step before the problem really festers.” Staff writer Nia-Malika Henderson contributed to this story.
PHOTO BY KEVIN IMM
A telephone pole struck by a car on Levittown Parkway by Newbridge Road in Levittown fell yesterday, sending plumes of black smoke into the air after its transformers caught fire. Power was knocked out to local homes and businesses.
Probe: Clinic waited to report abuse
BY MICHAEL AMON
[email protected]
A Manhattan drug rehab clinic kept quiet for too long about sexual misconduct allegations involving a counselor-trainee and a patient from Westbury, despite regulations requiring immediate disclosure of such incidents, a state probe has found. Odyssey House waited five days to informally notify the state by phone that a trainee was accused of coercing sex from the woman and never
filed a formal complaint, said an Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services report out yesterday. The probe also found Odyssey House on East 121st Street in Harlem never checked the accused counselor’s references before his hire in April and had tolerated “a pattern of poor professional boundaries, insubordination and inappropriate interactions with female patients,” without reprimanding him. Further, the report said, lax monitoring allowed the Westbury woman to
relapse during her monthlong stay at Odyssey House. The report was prompted by allegations that the counselor coerced sex from the woman, 30, by threatening to report her drug use if she refused his advances. The counselor resigned on June 19 after the woman tested positive for drugs and told clinic officials about the sex. Odyssey House officials disputed that they waited too long to report the alleged incident, saying a June 24 phone call was notification enough.
“We moved as quickly as we could,” said clinic spokeswoman Isobelle Surface, explaining the clinic needed a few days to investigate the allegations before informing the state. The clinic has until Aug. 11 to respond to the report and take corrective action. Separately, New York City police and prosecutors are investigating. No charges have been filed. The Westbury woman — whom Newsday is not naming because she says she is a sex crime victim — went to Odyssey
House in early May for a ninemonth stay as part of an agreement with a Nassau County Drug Treatment Court judge to avoid jail. Court officials allowed her to leave the clinic after the sex allegations surfaced, but she then disappeared and a warrant was issued. Authorities had a chance to arrest her over the weekend when she turned up at a Nassau hospital, but she was discharged on Sunday and disappeared again, the woman’s mother said yesterday.
NEWSDAY, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2008
LONG ISLAND
‘No magic bullet’ to drug recovery
Counselors say parents’ efforts to help their kids battle heroin addiction involves long process
BY ANDREW STRICKLER
[email protected]
Power outage
Drug counselors and narcotics detectives liken the effort to combat heroin and save an addicted child to a maze, a nightmare, a 15-round heavyweight fight. “There is no magic bullet to this,” said John Venza of Outreach Project, which runs drug treatment centers on Long Island and in New York City. “A lot of parents think there must be a single thing to do and . . . say, ‘This is what we need to do.’ But it’s more of a long process.” As Long Islanders face what police say is the increasing use of a purer, more dangerous form of heroin, especially in southern Nassau County, the Ciappa family laid bare its struggle to save their daughter’s life. Victor and Doreen Ciappa found their daughter, Natalie, 18, dead in a Seaford rec room June 21 after she went to a party with friends. Although the exact cause of death has not yet been determined, Nassau officials on Wednesday linked the Plainedge High School student to a heroin ring operating primarily out of the Hempstead bus terminal. Among a dozen people recently arrested was Ciappa’s exboyfriend, Philip Ordaya, 21, of Massapequa, who police have charged with drug conspiracy. No definitive link has been made between the ring and the heroin Ciappa is believed to have taken before her death. A “Lucky 13” stamp on a packet of heroin Doreen Ciappa
www.newsday.com
NEWSDAY PHOTO / THOMAS A. FERRARA
Natalie Ciappa
YESTERDAY How Newsday covered the story found in her daughter’s bedroom before she died matched stamps on packets found during recent raids of the ring, according to Nassau police. Doreen Ciappa’s story of struggles with her daughter — attempts to convince her to enter rehab, a terrifying overdose, searches of her room — resonated with experts, who said many aspects of heroin addiction defy expectations and even reason. Parents of addicts “have to be
a little hardened,” said Barbara Keller, executive director of the Suffolk Coalition to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Dependencies. Keller and others said many parents hesitate to seek professional help for themselves and their families. “If you know your loved one; you know when something is not right,” she said. “Trust your instincts.” In addition to inpatient, outpatient and intervention services, parents can also go to Family Court, where a judge can order a child to undergo an evaluation period by a counselor, who can also guide the family to drug abuse services. Police and schools are also responding. In May, Nassau police met with representatives from more than 75 percent of county districts to learn about the spike in heroin use, according to Det. Lt. Kenneth Lack. Their reactions “ran the gamut from ‘Thank God you’re here and doing something,’ to others saying, ‘We don’t think the problem exists in our community,’ ” he said. Lack said the meeting, while primarily educational, put schools on notice. “Their responsibility is to contact the parents and say, ‘We think this child has a problem,’ ” he said. Det. Lt. Peter Donohue of Nassau’s Narcotics/Vice Squad said his team has gotten several calls in recent weeks from school officials for help understanding drug slang, but there are no heroin-related investigations under way that began with information from a school. “We’re looking for [schools] to be more proactive rather than reactive,” he said. “We want them to take the first step before the problem really festers.” Staff writer Nia-Malika Henderson contributed to this story.
PHOTO BY KEVIN IMM
A telephone pole struck by a car on Levittown Parkway by Newbridge Road in Levittown fell yesterday, sending plumes of black smoke into the air after its transformers caught fire. Power was knocked out to local homes and businesses.
Probe: Clinic waited to report abuse
BY MICHAEL AMON
[email protected]
A Manhattan drug rehab clinic kept quiet for too long about sexual misconduct allegations involving a counselor-trainee and a patient from Westbury, despite regulations requiring immediate disclosure of such incidents, a state probe has found. Odyssey House waited five days to informally notify the state by phone that a trainee was accused of coercing sex from the woman and never
filed a formal complaint, said an Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services report out yesterday. The probe also found Odyssey House on East 121st Street in Harlem never checked the accused counselor’s references before his hire in April and had tolerated “a pattern of poor professional boundaries, insubordination and inappropriate interactions with female patients,” without reprimanding him. Further, the report said, lax monitoring allowed the Westbury woman to
relapse during her monthlong stay at Odyssey House. The report was prompted by allegations that the counselor coerced sex from the woman, 30, by threatening to report her drug use if she refused his advances. The counselor resigned on June 19 after the woman tested positive for drugs and told clinic officials about the sex. Odyssey House officials disputed that they waited too long to report the alleged incident, saying a June 24 phone call was notification enough.
“We moved as quickly as we could,” said clinic spokeswoman Isobelle Surface, explaining the clinic needed a few days to investigate the allegations before informing the state. The clinic has until Aug. 11 to respond to the report and take corrective action. Separately, New York City police and prosecutors are investigating. No charges have been filed. The Westbury woman — whom Newsday is not naming because she says she is a sex crime victim — went to Odyssey
House in early May for a ninemonth stay as part of an agreement with a Nassau County Drug Treatment Court judge to avoid jail. Court officials allowed her to leave the clinic after the sex allegations surfaced, but she then disappeared and a warrant was issued. Authorities had a chance to arrest her over the weekend when she turned up at a Nassau hospital, but she was discharged on Sunday and disappeared again, the woman’s mother said yesterday.
NEWSDAY, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2008
