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The Reno Problem Gambling Center, overflowing with clients just three weeks after opening its doors, will get another $115,000 in state funding to use for treatment programs.
The Health and Human Resources Problem Gambling Advisory Committee voted Wednesday to let the center move the money from two other programs into its treatment budget.
Dr. Robert Hunter, the psychologist who founded Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas and opened the Reno program in February, said Tuesday he seriously underestimated the need for gambling addiction treatment in Northern Nevada. He said he expected it to take about three months for those in need to find out about the program but that the first class filled within days.
Hunter said when they opened the doors the first morning, staff was met by a Carson City man holding a newspaper article about the program asking for help. He said they have up to 10 people waiting for more treatment programs to open.
The extra money was originally granted by the committee to provide financial counseling services and counseling to family and friends of problem gamblers. But center officials said they sought to move the money to treatment because of the demand.
Several committee members suggested it might be more fair to other groups that sought grant money to divide the funding among them rather than leave it all with the gambling center. A majority of the board voted to leave all the money with the new Reno center after being told it is the only operation in Northern Nevada dedicated to problem gambling at this point.
Clinical Director Denise Quirk said the Southern Nevada operation also has other revenue sources - primarily contributions from casino corporations - that the Reno center hasn't yet had time to develop. She said she will be working to convince casino operators in the Reno and Carson City areas to help because, even with the added state funding, the center will need support to cover costs.
Wednesday's vote brings the total state funding for the Reno center to $317,000 for this biennium. Quirk said that is still some $70,000 short of the estimated cost of running the center for two years. And that, she said, doesn't include the cost of expanding programs to meet the obvious need.
A university study says Nevada's rate of problem gamblers is three times higher than the nation as a whole. An estimated 6 percent of the state's adult population has gambling problems.
The money is from a tax of one dollar every quarter-year on slot machines. Casinos agreed to the plan in the last legislative session. That tax is the first state money ever put into programs to combat gambling addiction since the state legalized gaming 75 years ago.
While the tax doubles next year, it goes away after that unless lawmakers renew it in 2007. The committee headed by Glenn Christenson also voted Wednesday to ask for legislation to make the slot tax permanent.
"We opened on a shoestring budget and we know it's going to be tight," said Quirk. "We've had to turn people away because we don't have a daytime program yet and they work swing shift."
"We got more money today but the need is still there," she said.
Hunter said they want to make sure people with a gambling problem keep coming even though the center is still seeking more financial help.
Even those we can't put into a group right now, they're touching base with the counselors, going to GA (gamblers anonymous)," he said.
• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.
The Health and Human Resources Problem Gambling Advisory Committee voted Wednesday to let the center move the money from two other programs into its treatment budget.
Dr. Robert Hunter, the psychologist who founded Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas and opened the Reno program in February, said Tuesday he seriously underestimated the need for gambling addiction treatment in Northern Nevada. He said he expected it to take about three months for those in need to find out about the program but that the first class filled within days.
Hunter said when they opened the doors the first morning, staff was met by a Carson City man holding a newspaper article about the program asking for help. He said they have up to 10 people waiting for more treatment programs to open.
The extra money was originally granted by the committee to provide financial counseling services and counseling to family and friends of problem gamblers. But center officials said they sought to move the money to treatment because of the demand.
Several committee members suggested it might be more fair to other groups that sought grant money to divide the funding among them rather than leave it all with the gambling center. A majority of the board voted to leave all the money with the new Reno center after being told it is the only operation in Northern Nevada dedicated to problem gambling at this point.
Clinical Director Denise Quirk said the Southern Nevada operation also has other revenue sources - primarily contributions from casino corporations - that the Reno center hasn't yet had time to develop. She said she will be working to convince casino operators in the Reno and Carson City areas to help because, even with the added state funding, the center will need support to cover costs.
Wednesday's vote brings the total state funding for the Reno center to $317,000 for this biennium. Quirk said that is still some $70,000 short of the estimated cost of running the center for two years. And that, she said, doesn't include the cost of expanding programs to meet the obvious need.
A university study says Nevada's rate of problem gamblers is three times higher than the nation as a whole. An estimated 6 percent of the state's adult population has gambling problems.
The money is from a tax of one dollar every quarter-year on slot machines. Casinos agreed to the plan in the last legislative session. That tax is the first state money ever put into programs to combat gambling addiction since the state legalized gaming 75 years ago.
While the tax doubles next year, it goes away after that unless lawmakers renew it in 2007. The committee headed by Glenn Christenson also voted Wednesday to ask for legislation to make the slot tax permanent.
"We opened on a shoestring budget and we know it's going to be tight," said Quirk. "We've had to turn people away because we don't have a daytime program yet and they work swing shift."
"We got more money today but the need is still there," she said.
Hunter said they want to make sure people with a gambling problem keep coming even though the center is still seeking more financial help.
Even those we can't put into a group right now, they're touching base with the counselors, going to GA (gamblers anonymous)," he said.
• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.
