With funding from North County's Santa Ysabel tribe, the county has reached an agreement with a San Diego group to provide outpatient treatment for pathological gamblers.

“We know there's a need in San Diego,” said Susan Bower, the county's deputy director for alcohol and drug services, who is overseeing the program.

She said the treatment will be offered to “anybody who has an issue with gambling, whether they do it at the casino, or at the track or online.”

The county has issued a notice of intent to award a contract to the Union of Pan Asian Communities, a 32-year-old nonprofit that already has county contracts for drug-addiction and mental-health treatment.

The treatment is to be offered at the group's Normal Heights location, and referrals will be taken through a hotline from family and friends, from probation officers and directly, Bower said.

Margaret Iwanaga-Penrose, the group's president, said in an e-mail that she's excited about the prospect of providing the treatment, but wants to wait until the contract is finalized before talking about it.

The Santa Ysabel band, which opened a small casino overlooking Lake Henshaw this spring, agreed to give the county $300,000 a year for the problem-gambling program.

The funding is part of an agreement the tribe reached with the county in order to open the casino.

A similar agreement the county reached with the Pala tribe a few weeks ago will provide an additional $150,000 a year for problem-gambling treatment. That money will go toward a different contract for treatment elsewhere in the county.

The county has 10 Indian casinos, four card rooms, a racetrack and numerous lottery terminals.

A state-funded study last year estimated that 4.5 percent of residents here and in neighboring counties are problem or pathological gamblers.

But there are few treatment options for those who call the (800) GAMBLER hotline, which generally offers referrals to Gamblers Anonymous, a 12-step group.

Subsidized treatment is important, experts said, because by the time many gamblers realize they're in trouble, they've spent all their money, lost jobs and insurance and alienated family and friends.

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