Utah County Division of Substance Abuse administrators say proposed state budget cuts could hamstring their efforts and end up costing the state many times more in the long run.

Facing an unprecedented financial crisis, state legislators are calling for 15-percent cuts across all government spending. That amounts to about $45 million from the state's Department of Human Services, of which the lion's share -- about $30 million -- would come from substance abuse and mental health programs, said Richard Nance, the county's Substance Abuse director. On the county level, that could mean the loss of about $1.4 million and more than 20 employees, he said.

"Substance abuse touches every piece of the social fabric in the community," he said. "Numbers are numbers, but when you talk about real, live human impacts, that's a whole different scenario."

Under the county's projections, it stands to lose the capacity to treat 655 clients and engage another 4,500 -- most of them in local schools -- in prevention programs. Nance said one of the hardest hits would be the complete dismantling of the Drug Offender Reform program, which treats criminals convicted of drug-related crimes as an alternative to prison time.

"That would disappear overnight, and that treats 115 people a year that are all convicted felons," he said.

The state is also considering cutting 100 percent of prevention funding, which would reduce prevention services the county could offer by about 35 percent, said Pat Bird, the county's prevention program manager. That includes Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Boys and Girls Club, classes for parents of high-risk youth and early intervention measures in local schools. Bird said that while it may cut costs this year, it would be a mistake that would end up costing the state much more in the long run. Research suggests that every dollar put toward prevention saves $15 down the road, he said.

"It keeps them from becoming clients of the juvenile justice system," he said. "The earlier we can intervene with them, the better the chances."

Failing that, the consequences could be catastrophic, Nance said.

"If we're unable to treat them and treat the main reason for their criminal behavior, they're going to be flooding the courts, they're going to be flooding the Utah County jail," he said. "We're going to have parents calling constantly, asking us, 'How am I going to get my child into treatment?' and we're going to have to tell them they're going to have to get arrested. That's the only way to get into the system."

But the worst may be yet to come: Nance was at the state Capitol on Monday, making a plea before the Health and Human Services Joint Appropriations Subcommittee to preserve funding. He said that by the end of that meeting, lawmakers had moved toward cutting 85 percent of all substance abuse money.

"We were told it was pretty much every state dollar," he said. "I can't even begin to estimate how many clients that's going to be. It's probably going to be at least another 188, and that's pretty much going to be women with dependent children."

That's because two county programs that target that group, House of Hope and Promise of Women and Families, would also have to be shut down, he said.

The division has already had to cut back once this fiscal year. In an October special session of the state Legislature, lawmakers reduced the division's budget by 14.8 percent. That scrapped plans to expand the Drug Offender Reform program and other youth-related efforts.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or astryker@heraldextra.com.