Gaudenzia Long-Term Residential Treatment Facility

Despite heightened public awareness, and political commitment during the 1990s to address Baltimore City's severe drug problem, and unprecedented success in securing State and private resources for the treatment of the City's addicts beginning in the year 2000, detoxification sites remain limited in number, inpatient and outpatient capacity is still inadequate, and new program development and program expansion have not kept pace with the need. The most serious gap in Baltimore City's treatment capacity has been the lack of long-term residential treatment. Of the 7,400 treatment slots funded by the State in FY2001, the great majority are for either methadone maintenance (56 percent) or outpatient drug-free treatment (31 percent), which are the least expensive modalities. By comparison, there are very few slots for residential treatment of any kind (five percent) and even fewer residential slots with an average stay as long as six months (three percent).

When a nursing home in the Park Heights area of Baltimore went bankrupt and the building became available in the spring of 2001, the Foundation saw an opportunity to increase Baltimore's long-term residential treatment capacity significantly. The facility could hold up to 124 beds. Since no public funds were available to acquire the building quickly, discussions with Baltimore's Health Commissioner and the president of the Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems (BSAS) led to a partnership in which the Foundation committed to guarantee a $1.5 million loan to acquire and rehabilitate the building, and the State and Baltimore City committed to providing up to 70 percent of the operating costs.

A Request For Proposals seeking a residential treatment provider with the demonstrated program experience and fiscal soundness to operate a large residential facility was widely disseminated by BSAS. In July 2001, Gaudenzia, a highly respected nonprofit organization from Pennsylvania, was selected. Gaudenzia operates some 40 long-term residential and outpatient facilities throughout Pennsylvania, with an excellent reputation for effective treatment services that dates back to the mid-1960s. Gaudenzia serves addicted adult men and addicted women and their children, and has the medical capacity to serve addicted individuals with HIV/AIDS and those with a co-occurring mental health disorder. After the renovation of the building was completed in May 2002, Gaudenzia began to offer a continuum of care that includes non-hospital detoxification, 28-day residential treatment, long-term variable length of stay residential treatment and outpatient treatment services. Gaudenzia serves approximately 1,000 individuals annually at this site.

One year after the completion of this facility, not only was the Park Heights facility fully occupied, but Gaudenzia was having to turn away numerous applicants every month. In light of the urgent need for increased long-term residential treatment in the City, the Foundation initiated a search for a suitable additional site for expansion of Gaudenzia’s services. The Foundation also joined in discussions with the trustees of the Weinberg Foundation, seeking to partner in funding the capital costs of an additional residential facility. In October 2002, the Foundation discovered a 3½-acre site in the 3600 block of Woodland Avenue, three blocks from the Park Heights Gaudenzia facility. The owner agreed to donate the site, if it was to have a public interest use, and the property, valued at $465,000, was then deeded to a nonprofit entity, Shannon House Inc., to await development. This new facility with a capacity of 120 therapeutic community/long term residential drug and alcohol treatment beds will result in the ability of Gaudenzia to treat over 1,650 clients annually as well as employ 125 individuals throughout Baltimore City.

The Mayor and the Baltimore Health Commissioner committed to provide $2.5 million annually to operate the new residential treatment facility. The Weinberg Foundation Board approved a commitment of $1,250,000 for capital costs and the Abell Foundation provided a 4.25 million loan guaranty to support the completion of the $5.5 million facility. The treatment center opened its doors in June 2006.