Replies: 16

LucyRicardo Posts: 11 Registered: 3/23/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Mar 27, 2009 1:07 PM   Reply It is difficult to answer your question without more information. Basically, I feel like he should be the one doing all the homework if he is really ready for help. Also, I have seen many people shell out big bucks only to have their loved one relapse in no time flat. My email is mertzricardo10@aol.com, if you would like to talk more. I feel for you, I have been where you are.

mom of addy addict Posts: 1 Registered: 3/27/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Mar 27, 2009 7:08 PM   Reply My son is at Sober Living by the Sea (can you believe they call it that) in Newport Beach, CA. He is in their extended care program and taking classes at a community college. He did his 30 day program at Sierra Tucson. SLBTS also has a 30 day program. Both of these places have been fabulous. They really know what they are doing. The extended care is essential. My son has said that he would have relapsed if he had gone home after 30 days. Both places work with your insurance. The education provided for families has also been great. I just returned from family week in CA and I am hopeful for the first time in 3 years.

david_sheff Posts: 183 Registered: 1/14/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Mar 27, 2009 8:16 PM   Reply Somehow I can't include a long post here, so I'll divide a note in a few short posts. 1-Thank you for writing. I understand, and experienced, your frustration. The system is a mess. I struggled with finding a treatment and struggled with insurance. I do feel it's appropriate for a parent to help a child (or I suppose it's appropriate for anyone to help anyone) get into treatment. From researchers I've come to learn that people who go intro treatment because they choose to or are forced to can do well. I agree that a month is rarely enough. Someday there will be a resource to go for information that will help answer your questions. For now we're left to figure it out on our own. You may check in with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and Partnership for a Drug Free America. Both may have referrals and may be able to help. Also you may discuss your situation with people who run treatment centers. Some places have sliding scales and some allow payment plans. (We made such an arrangement with one of the treatment programs.) (continue)

david_sheff Posts: 183 Registered: 1/14/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Mar 27, 2009 8:16 PM   Reply 2. Also you may check with your insurance because some have more and longer coverage for outpatient programs. Sometimes an intensive inpatient program can be followed by an outpatient program. You may check with your insurance carrier to see exactly what they mean by "an approved treatment center." That is, what treatment centers are approved? The experts I've interviewed have cautioned me and others to ignore a treatment center's Internet advertising and especially boasts of high "success" rates. They say that the numbers "probably aren't accurate." Instead they recommend calling professionals for referrals. You might try finding a trained (credentialed) therapist or counselor who has experience working with addiction (and family members of addicts). Also there are addiction programs at hospitals that may have information. In addition many local and state health agencies can provide information and referrals. In some cases, there are public programs available, though they may be difficult to find and access.

david_sheff Posts: 183 Registered: 1/14/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Mar 27, 2009 8:17 PM   Reply 3. I know this isn't the answer you (or any of us) would like. It should be far easier and there should be far more resources. But for now I just don't know what else to suggest. I can tell you that Nic ended up in a three-month program in Santa Fe New Mexico that helped (and he says it helped) a lot. It's the Life Healing Center. Even if it isn't the right place for your son, it may be a place to call for referrals. Also Hazelden in Michigan is a respected treatment center. Again, it may not be the right place for your son but they may have referrals in your area. Finally, SAMHSA, a government agency, has a system for checking out programs. I haven't used it nor do I know anyone who has, but SAMHSA is a well regarded organization. Here's the website: http://dasis3.samhsa.gov/Default.aspx Good luck to you and your family.

chigirl Posts: 9 Registered: 3/28/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Mar 28, 2009 2:54 PM   Reply I've only had one experience so far with my daughter going to re-hab. She is 16 and willingly went into residential treatment last november, actually asked me to take her. After 3 days the insurance company called to say they would not cover her care(even though the faciltiy was "in network" because they didn't see any "medical necessity" for her to be there. Basically because she didn't come in needing detox...they felt she was fine and didn't need to be there. So I asked them if I should drive and get her so she could come home and continue using Cocaine and downing a fifth of Vodka every chance she could get like she'd been doing...."because that's what she's going to do". They had to take a day and discuss it and call me back. Wow. The facility psychiatrists and nursing staffs spend the majority of their day "handling" the insurance companies and battling to keep patients "in" the facility...when the insurance companies want nothing but to push them out. In my daughters case the staff was able to convince the insurance company that she INDEED needed to be inpatient and they agreed to "an extended amount of time." This was just our case and I have no idea if it would help you at all. But in your calling and researching perhaps you could ask how the staff and specifically the psychiatrists at the facility reports to the insurance companies and basically fights to keep your loved one in for treatment. Some facilities actually have a full time person who handles this. We all know 30 days is in no way long enough to treat addictions. It's insulting actually. Too bad the insurance companies don't know this basic truth. Good luck to you.

bookrose Posts: 17 Registered: 4/20/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Apr 20, 2009 3:12 PM   Reply Please look at the Cenikor Foundation website (www.cenikor.org.) This is an 18-24 month live-in facility, and the cost is FREE. After an intense 30 day detox and rehab, the patients enter the behavior modification phase of treatment. They actually work outside of the facility, and their earnings pay their way. As they progress, they earn more freedom as a reward for positive behavior. My son has been in for almost 3 months, and I can't tell you how much it has changed his outlook, not only on using drugs, but on every part of his life. He would never have stayed cleaned after only 30 days in a facility, and I believe that long-term treatment has the best chance for success.

lily1 Posts: 7 Registered: 8/17/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Aug 20, 2009 1:00 PM   Reply Hello-Thank you for your recommendation on Cenikor. I spoke with them yesterday to confirm that yes this is "free" and they require only 175.00 registration fee. It is a 2 year program with facilities in 3 locations. Dallas/Fort Worth area, Houston area and 1 in Louisiana. It's a 2 year program and the clients work there for part of their treatment. It's for all ages, both sexes and mainly drug and alcohol addiction. They gave me a phone # for my daughter to call so they can do a short interview over the phone to see if she's a good candidate. I passed the # on to her. Now I pray she calls so she can start receiving treatment for this dreaded disease.

Rosena Posts: 515 Registered: 6/8/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Aug 20, 2009 1:40 PM   Reply That sounds promising! Let us know how this works out! I will keep you in my thoughts. I hope your daughter takes the help that is offered to her!

zinthaq Posts: 1 Registered: 4/21/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Apr 21, 2009 7:17 AM   Reply DrugStrategies, the definitive site for help with drug and alcohol addiction, has compiled a comprehensive list of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Centers and Rehabilitation Programs in California. Choose your nearest city for a listing of locations and contact information. California Drug Treatment Centers

david_sheff Posts: 183 Registered: 1/14/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Apr 22, 2009 6:48 PM   Reply It's critical that we each do comprehensive resaerch to determine the best place for treatment for ourselves or a loved one. Sites with listings don't always screen programs to be sure they're reputable or to be sure they provide effective treatments. It's useful to get professional referrals and 2nd and 3rd optinions. It's also important to be sure that treatments are administered by qualified, trained, licensed therapists. Experts have cautioned me about trusting information on the web because it's unregulated; for example, a rehab can claim success rates of 90 or 100 percent but it doesn't mean they're accurate (and more experts agree that success rates like that are unrealistic). Best of luck with this.

frustrated in texas Posts: 2 Registered: 3/27/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Apr 24, 2009 12:06 AM   Reply Thank you for your response. I apologize for not thanking you sooner. Our time seems to evaporate! We have struggled to get our son to agree to check himself into rehab. He was asked to leave the first and has now been transfered to another. We are fighting for his life. It is a day to day and sometimes hour to hour process. Unfortunately, I am not sure he is fighting along with us. We are offering him nothing but treatment and our love. Honestly, I can't say we are impressed with the treatment center we have found. It seems to be directed mostly to alcoholics. I am continuing the search for a place for him to go after the 30 days are complete. I will check into the cenikor.org mentioned in this thread. I have found tons of information on the web but I have yet to find out how to tap into "scholarship funds". Like so many...we lack the financial ability to choose the programs we'd like. An internet source that I have found of interest is a online magazine for treatment centers... www.treatmentmagazine.com Thank you again for the opportunity to be a part of this thread and your support.

bookrose Posts: 17 Registered: 4/20/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Apr 27, 2009 12:02 PM   Reply Frustrated, please don't give up on finding a treatment center. If money (or lack of!) is the issue, as it is with so many families in this situation, then Cenikor may be your only worthwhile option. While it is extremely hard to commit your child to 24 months of treatment, be encourged that because of the time extent, the program is very successful, for those who stay in the whole time. As I read stories on here about 30 day centers, and the lack of success so many are having with them, I can't help but recall the feeling after my son's initial 30 days in Cenikor. I felt like he had only scratched the surface in his recovery, was only just beginning. To let him out on the street at that point would have been guaranteed failure - I am sure of that. So while the commitment is a long one, I think it is his best chance for success. By the time he gets out, his contacts from his former life will all be scattered, phone numbers changed, he will live in a different place, and really have a chance for a new life, having been drug free for two years. To me, that, and the fact that he really wants it, is the best recipe for success.

exhausted Posts: 14 Registered: 8/5/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Aug 13, 2009 2:01 PM   Reply Dear Frustrated, I am also in Texas. My son did 30 days at Hazelden, and then went to New Found Life in Long Beach, Calif. for 3 more months. He is now home and is going to Intensive Outpatient at "The Right Step". All of these places have websites. You may email me if you wish; Cinderthegreat@aol.com I know that finding treatment is very costly. I don't know your son's condition, but my son is going to be 21 this month. He has been clean now for over 4 months. I know how hard this is. Don't give up. I got my son to agree to treatment by totally giving up contact with him. I just prayed everyday that he would live to see treatment. Hang in there.

fhaye Posts: 1 Registered: 8/10/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Aug 10, 2009 11:05 AM   Reply There are lots of residential treatment facilities that you can search from the web. It could give you many choices to look for a suitable residential treatment center. I’ve searched this for you and I think that this might help you for your search http://www.residentialtreatment411.com/ Message was edited by: fhaye

jane'o Posts: 6 Registered: 8/4/09 Re: shopping for appropriate residential treatment centers Posted: Aug 15, 2009 2:14 PM   Reply Hi, I hope this helps. Hazelden in Center City, MN. I am a recovering addict and alumni of Hazelden. I cannot say enough good things about this place. I was in the program for 1 year total, counting the halfway house etc.. This amount of time was suggested because of my lengthy drug use and the fact I had been to thirteen treatment centers previous. I also have some friends who went to Sierra Tucson in AZ. They had great things to say about there experience there. Not sure about funding there though. Anyway good luck and I hope your son and family find peace. jane'o