New Rehab Programs for TDCJ, Prisons, Parole, and Probation

The Texas legislature appropriated over $200 million to replace programs they axed in 03 and 05, as well as add new programs. Many of these programs will be substance abuse treatment and education, but nobody has said where the counselors are going to come from. We have a counselor licensure law in Texas for all counselors, including Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselors (LCDC). Since 1995, when then Governor George W. Bush took over as Governor of Texas, LCDC's have not had an easy time of it in Texas. One of Governor Bush's first official acts was to place the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in conservatorship, and close 80% of the publicly funded treatment beds. This was done by alleging fraud on the part of most of the treatment centers, much like Governor Perry has done with the Community Colleges. They sent the Texas Rangers to most of the treatment centers to audit, and they came on like gangbusters. They immediately cut off funds to any treatment center who was even suspected of wrongdoing, causing most of them to close. The allegations were mostly proved false by Bush's own investigators, but by then it was too late for many. Counselors have yet to recover from this attack, and many have left the field. Many more left the field in 03 and 05, when the Lege cut off funding for most TDCJ programs. These counselors are not standing around waiting for these new programs to open up, and many would not work for a TDCJ program anyway. I wouldn't. So where are the qualified counselors coming from? The short answer is: They're not. They will hire whoever they can get. TDCJ is above the counselor licensure law; always has been. If you want to be a counselor, but don't want to mess with the pesky ol' education, training, etc., this may be for you!