SAD FOR THE LOCALS –
Feb. 3, 2024 – Minnesota teens struggling with drugs or alcohol have few options for help after several treatment centers closed last year.
Clinics that prescribed opioid addiction medication shut down in Duluth and Inver Grove Heights in the fall, as did a decades-old residential treatment program in New Ulm. And as 2023 came to an end, so did a nonprofit’s drug treatment program for mothers at a St. Louis Park housing complex.
Addiction treatment providers stopped services in at least 10 Minnesota locations in 2023, often citing a lack of staff and perilously thin margins. Others scaled back.
Program closures in 2023 surpassed any year that several providers said they can recall, and the closures are coming as deadly overdoses and demand for services remain high. On average, more than three people died every day in Minnesota from an overdose, according to Minnesota Department of Health data on confirmed deaths in 2023.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said Jack Benson, executive director at the metro-area On-Belay House Anthony Louis Center that serves teenagers. “We’re seeing a lot more deaths.”
