Cutbacks in drug rehabilitation and mental health funds could impact a range of services and significantly increase the amount of homeless people in Kitsap County, according to local officials.

“The governor’s new budget has completely omitted several important programs,” said Kitsap County Substance Abuse Coordinator Betsy Bosch. “We have no idea how we will fund these services.”

In the face of an $8 billion budget deficit, the budget presented by Gov. Christine Gregoire has recommended the elimination of the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Treatment and Support Act and the general assistance unemployable program, which respectively support transitioning drug addicts and people who are unable to find employment due to mental disabilities.

The threatened cuts follow news of a funding scramble for the Kitsap Recovery Center, an inpatient drug rehabilitation facility located in East Bremerton.

All of the programs are linked, since their individual efficacy depends on their working together. For example, an addict leaving a treatment facility may rely on SANDA in order to provide a transition to society.

Bosch has spent the past several weeks juggling the budgets for several of these programs, but concedes that some may not receive funding.

“Most of the programs are funded through June,” she said. “But on July 1, the cuts will take effect. And when the programs are no longer funded, there will be a ripple effect, like a stone on a pond.”

The most visible effect could be an immediate increase in the local homeless population, since both programs are designed to pay for housing for people who have no other rent options.

Kitsap County’s most recent homeless census, which took place in January, reported 937 homeless. Of this number, 276 were children. This statistic, according to volunteer Bev Kincaid, is the most disturbing.

“Homelessness children have the highest risk factor,” she said. “As they grow into adulthood, there are mental and emotional problems that result from being homeless at a young age. They continue to require intervention and treatment.”

Even with these danger signals, Kincaid thinks that a solution will emerge — either through creative funding or federal stimulus money.

“I don’t think we need to go into panic mode,” she said. “We will be able to live with the situation.”

Linda Kerkes, who runs the ADATSA program out of the Kitsap Recovery Center, isn’t so optimistic.

“When someone gets out of an inpatient drug program, they need to go to a stable place,” she said. “If they don’t have access to a clean and sober environment, they will go back to where they lived before and fall back into their old habits. The first three or four months after getting out are the most important.”

After months of attempted problem solving Kerkes is shifting into desperation mode. On Monday night she brought several recovering addicts in front of the Kitsap County commissioners to tell their stories.

Said one, “If not for this program I wouldn’t be here tonight talking to you. I would be sitting across the street, in the jail.”

Commissioner meetings have two public comment opportunities, at the beginning and the end of the agenda. ADATSA participated in both.

Kerkes spoke first, and the recovering addicts spoke later.

“This goes against the whole idea of a 12-step program, which is to stay anonymous,” she said. “But we need to speak out.”

The speakers implored the commissioners to save the program, which prompted a clarification from Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown.

“We support these programs,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any control over the funding. We are only a pass-through for state and Federal money.”

Kerkes, and then Brown, suggested that concerned residents write their legislators, or the governor directly.

She has submitted the preliminary budget that removed the program, and the Legislature has the power to restore the funding.

If Gregoire’s budget is harsh, she was forced to cut programs in the face of an $8 billion deficit.

“About 60 percent of the budget is for programs that we are required to support,” said Deputy Communications Director Laura Lockard. “There is so little that could be touched, and she had to preserve the programs that were most vulnerable.”

Added Health Department spokesman Timothy Church, “All health agencies are facing significant cuts and have some difficult decisions about what survives.”