David Geier is the director of The Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program and says his agency has been working hard over the past year to train more gambling addiction therapists before proposed casinos open at racetracks across the state, but it's slow going.
“We have a ways to go to get ready,” Geier said. “It takes time to train therapists (and) persuade them to take on this type of therapy program…So it’s not time for alarm, but it’s time to be getting ready.”
Geier says a major obstacle for recruitment has been limited funding. He says for years the program, which provides its services for free, has struggled to recruit and maintain contracts with counselors. Despite a budget of nearly $2 million last year, he says the agency still can’t provide competitive contracts for counselors.
“We have to give excuses for why it's still better, even though you can make 50% more, 75% more on the psychotherapy you do for a Blue Cross insured client than what we can pay you.”
Another problem has been public outreach. Geier says many Nebraskans don’t even know his agency exists.
“We haven't been able to get the word out,” Geier said. “We still find communities we go to and they say, `Well, I think I've heard a little bit about this but I'm not really sure.’”
Ironically, a possible solution to the agency’s budget woes may come from…the proposed casinos. As part of an initiative passed in 2020, 2.5% of a 20% tax on casino revenues is earmarked for the program.
“You know, we could get a million a year, we could get 2 million a year, we don't know, nobody knows yet,” Geier said, “But it'll be plenty of money for us to be able to pay therapists a good competitive rate for what they do.”
Until those funds start coming, however, Geier says his agency will continue efforts to train as many therapists as possible before the first casino opens.
While Geier acknowledges there’s no conclusive evidence that opening a casino increases problem gambling in a community, it wouldn’t be illogical to assume there would be an increase.
“It doesn't happen at the snap of a finger,” Geier said. ”Somebody gets into trouble. It takes a while before they realize that they need to get some help to help them deal with the trouble that they got in."
If you or someone you know is battling gambling addiction, the Nebraska Gambler’s Assistance helpline is 1-833-238-6837