Emilia Teasdale is reporting in The Columbia Paper a recently study by the University of Albany School of Public Health found the Chatham Cares 4U program, "has achieved its primary goal of providing direct and immediate access to substance abuse treatment.” The substances abused most by those who enter the program are opioids, either heroin or prescription medication. Tomoko Udo, a researcher with the School of Public Health, presented the report at a meeting held last month at the Tracy Memorial in Chatham. Between July 2016 and August 2017, 125 people came to the Chatham police requesting help, and 84 percent of those people entered a treatment facility. “Eighty-four percent is pretty high,” Udo said. Udo also found that two-thirds of those seeking help entered into treatment on the same day they asked for help. Most had previously requested help elsewhere and more than half had been denied treatment in the past. Udo found that most people seeking treatment through the Chatham program were in the 26-to-35-year-old age range and had no past drug-related arrest history. Roughly 37 percent of those people were female, a number higher than the state average for woman seeking treatment. Most people using the program were from Columbia County, with one-third coming from Albany, Greene and Rensselaer counties. The program was initiated by Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann. It encourages individuals dealing with addiction to request the police's help in finding them a treatment bed and to provide transportation to a treatment facility if needed. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.