Treatment center
hits a wall in East Frankford

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Representatives from NorthEast Treatment Centers faced a packed room of opposition at the East Frankford Civic Association last week.
NET purchased the Third Federal Bank building, 4625 Frankford Ave., earlier this summer from Frankford Associates and intends to provide behavioral health care and social services for adults and youth out of the facility. The organization has provided like services for adults, children and their families for 37 years in southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.
NET President Terry McSherry, director Joseph Schultz, unit director Jennifer Herman, along with other NET representatives came to offer answers to the community's questions and concerns.
Dan Lodise, chief of staff for State Rep. Tony Payton (D-179th), Liz McCollum-Nazaria, chief of staff for Councilman Dan Savage (D-7th), Democratic candidate for 7th City Councilmanic District Maria Quinones-Sanchez, 15th Police District commander Capt. Frank Bachmayer and Sgt. Scott Drissel were also in attendance.
McSherry told meeting attendees that his goal was to bring NET's services to where the people are who need them. According to the organization's census, half of their clients reside in the 19124 and 19134 zip codes.
Civic members countered that those figures may be skewed by a population of parolees that reside in Frankford's halfway houses.
Not counting the NET building, from Griscom Street to Leiper Street and from Edmund Street to Wakeling Street there are 13 halfway houses or drug rehabilitation centers.
McSherry assured residents that the facility would not dispense methadone.
"It's in the deed," he said.
The sale of the property was contingent on several restrictions, including prohibiting the building’s use as a residential facility, prohibiting dispensing of pharmaceuticals such as methadone, not negatively impacting the residential community, and following rules and practices to control clients.
Only about half of what NET will do at the facility is geared toward adults with behavioral health, mental health and drug rehabilitation services. The other half is related to children's issues.
NET intends to offer youth programs on the first floor of the building, adjacent to the bank, which will remain as a tenant. Adult services will be offered on the second floor of the building which is proposed to be accessed by a rear doorway that goes right up to the second floor. (The civic association is familiar with the building as it used to meet in a second floor conference room there before moving to the Frankford Hospital conference room.)
NET's Jennifer Herman explained that 70 percent of the children that will receive services there are from Warren G. Harding Middle School.
"It looks like an after-school program," Herman said of the Adolescent Violence Reduction Partnership (AVRP).
Fifteen to 18 at risk children will receive academic assistance, a link to social services, as well as receive services through the Mural Arts program, developing murals for the community. The students will be picked up after school, driven to NET and then driven to their individual homes.
While no one denied that NET offered its clients a valuable, quality program, the consensus was that community residents don't want them in their backyard.
While the front doors to the building are on Frankford Avenue - a commercial corridor -- the back of the building faces a residential neighborhood, with new homes and senior housing.
The Frankford residents blasted NET telling them that their backyard was already full of treatment centers and halfway houses and they didn't want any more.
"We're trying to bring Frankford back up. We want good things," one member said.
Another sore spot for residents is the fact that NET didn't come to them first, before they bought the building.
"We seldom get a fair shake from community groups," McSherry told those gathered. "They have a shorter view than I do. I've been doing this for 27 years and believe the world is a little better off," McSherry said.
When one member suggested the civic agree to a two-year trial period for NET, Hoch said she wouldn't give them two days.
"We've been spit on and stomped on enough. I really resent that you did this with the idea that you don't have to talk to us," Hoch said.
She held up a copy of Transportation and Community Development Initiative plans for the Frankford Avenue corridor. City planners, consultants and community stakeholders met for months to come up with the 2006 plan for revitalization along the Frankford corridor.
"Who's going to want to come here now," she asked.
Jennifer Powell Folks told NET that if they were to only offer youth services at the facility, she would support them.
"I'm okay with AVRP youth services. The alternative is that they'll be on my corner...We have one of the highest concentrations of youth offenders. We have to provide them with services or they'll continue to abuse us," she said as much to the membership as to NET.
On the other hand.
"You're going to have issues if you have adult services. Just the perception alone challenges us. You'll work with us or you'll have issues with us," Powell Folks said.
While difficult to financially envision, we would consider all possibilities, McSherry said in a follow-up phone call on Friday.
According to Dan Lodise, Payton's office will work with NET to organize a meeting with Paul Street neighbors.
"We certainly intend to have a neighborhood advisory council, distribute a periodic newsletter, widely publish a hotline with any concerns or questions in regards to the site," McSherry said.
The meeting ended without a satisfactory solution for anyone involved. Still Hoch believes it still achieved something important.
"I think it accomplished a rude awakening for these people. They come into the neighborhood, see how many are in the neighborhood and plop themselves down. We're not kidding about it. We've had enough. I don't care who they are," civic association president Peggy Hoch said. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com