Trustee drug testing welfare seekers

MOUNT VERNON, Ind. MOUNT VERNON If you need emergency money in Black Township, you must be drug free.

In a bold move this month, Black Township in Posey County became the first Indiana Township to drug test all applicants for emergency township assistance. The immediate goal is to keep taxpayers from funding drug use, said Black Township Trustee Lindsay Suits.

"Our long term goal is to break the cycle of dependency," Suits said. "It is time for us to stop having

great ideas and stopping there."

Indiana Townships assistance programs provide residents with the basic essentials for life when all else fails food, clothing, housing, water, electricity. Usually this means paying past-due Vectren or water bills, Suits said.

The purpose for township assistance is to help people through emergencies so they can become self sufficient, Suits said. People using drugs won't find work and most employers drug test all potential hires, she said.

The push to begin drug testing came first from Black Township's three-person elected board. Suits held off for the first two years in office, then took the plung this year.

In the three weeks since Suits began drug testing, the Township has run more than 35 tests. Of those, about 30 percent came back positive for either amphetamines, opiates, THC, cocaine, PCP or K2 spice.

Anyone who tests positive can reapply if they participate in a substance abuse treatment program at Stepping Stone. Suits said she would even consider paying for someone to complete the program out of the Township's budget. But so far, no one who has tested positive has agreed to enter rehab.

"A lot of times, people find out we're drug testing, they don't even come in," Suits said. "I was on the phone with a lady today, she said, 'I'm not going to come in because I'll test positive.'"

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Trustee drug testing welfare seekers