The Union City Board of Commissioners is taking a giant step in trying to help city employees stay drug and alcohol free. At the Board of Commissioners meeting on Jan. 4 in City Hall, the board voted to provide its employees with the Employee Assistance Program.
“[This program] not only can help the employees, but also their family members as well,” said Union City Mayor Brian Stack. “If you can save one person from a life addicted to alcohol or a life addicted to drugs it is worth every penny.”
The program provides all city employees and their immediate families with counseling primarily for drug and alcohol abuse, but will also counsel employees with marital or financial problems.
This program was originally initiated in the city by former Mayor Bruce Walter. However, the program was dropped in September by former Mayor Rudy Garcia after the city failed to pay Horizon Behavioral Services for its counseling.
The new contract with Horizon Behavioral Services began on Jan. 1.
Completely confidential
To enroll in the program, an employee can either refer himself or can see Employee Assistance Program Monitor Frank Mona to be referred.
“And then I am out of it,” said Mona about the strict confidentiality that the program ensures. “I can’t even call up and ask how the person is doing [after referring them].”
Once enrolled in the program, the employee or family member must give permission before any information about his or her treatment is given out.
Mona said that many people will refer themselves into the program and no one would even know that they are going through counseling.
“A lot of times people do not want other people to know that they are in a program,” said Mona. An employee may also be referred to the program by a department supervisor if a behavioral change or excessive absenteeism is noticed in one of their employees.
“[The director] may not want to lose that employee,” said Mona. “Some may fall by the wayside and it is a temporary thing.”
“[This program] will save a lot more money in the long run,” said Stack about sick leave and insurance costs later on. “[You have] a more productive employee when they are drug and alcohol free.”
However, the program also covers financial or marital problems.
“[The program] covers just about everything,” said Mona. ” If you are having financial problems or can’t pay your bills, a counselor will sit down with you and map out a plan to get you out of debt.”
Success stories
Stack’s advocacy of the program stems from a personal experience with it. Stack was able to enroll his father into the program about seven years ago when he was suffering from alcoholism.
Through this program, Stack’s father was put into a five-day detoxification program and then a 28-day rehabilitation program, Stack said. Then he began attending Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and has been sober ever since.
“The support that [the program] gave not only my father, but our family as well was tremendous,” said Stack.
There have been many other success stories with this program as well. Mona, who was a Union City Police Officer for 30 years before he retired in 1987 as a captain and began working in City Hall, has seen many of the other success stories that have come through the program.
“I’ve been involved since it started,” said Mona, who has also been able to keep tabs on those employees that have given permission. “We had a lot of good things happen.”