Bay City Tribune

Gulf Winds Rehabilitation Treatment Center is set to open its doors early next year, offering drug and mental-health treatment to children and families of Matagorda County and surrounding areas.

"We have a lot of kids right here in our backyard that need this treatment," Karen Hubbard of Gulf Winds RTC told the Matagorda County Community Coalition (MCCC), the local chapter of Bay Area Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse (BACODA) Wednesday, Nov. 18.

"We want to work with parents and children together."

Hubbard said the new 23-bed center, at 2904 First Street in Bay City, will offer in-house treatment services for children ages 10-18, as well as intensive outpatient programs including anger management.

Saying the center should open early next year, Hubbard explained she is waiting for licensing from the state that will take at least a month. Funding for the center's programs will come from differing agencies that will contract with the center to treat children in need.

"We aren't raising taxes and we're here to help these kids in any way we can," said Hubbard.

Gulf Winds will apply in February 2010 to become a charter school so that they may house the children and hold school. If the center is granted a charter, it will be a satellite location within Houston Independent School District as an interactive school.

Children in need of treatment will be referred to the facility through several organizations including juvenile probation and Child Protective Services (CPS).

Once children enter the program, they will be able to stay as long as necessary, Hubbard said.

"Most of us know already that there are a lot of underlying issues to drug and alcohol abuse."

Depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder are other problems facing many of the young people who will benefit from the treatment, she said.

Licensed therapists will determine if the students' problems are chemical or circumstantial in nature, and a child psychiatrist will provide treatment on site.

By providing these children with a long-term home, Hubbard said Gulf Winds hopes to help children heal and develop behaviors to form a healthy and positive life.

MCCC Director Marian Bullard said that BACODA would continue its partnership with Gulf Winds.

"I'm ready to see this facility open," she said.