Rotary Program: 10/12/05

Program Chairperson: Rick Newsom

Speaker(s): Jenifer Noland and Robert L. Neri of West Care Inc.

Bob Neri is Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of West Care Inc., a non-profit behavioral healthcare treatment facility based in Las Vegas, Nevada and is now working with its branch center at Ashcamp, Ky. in what used to be the Kentucky Youth Academy. West Care is a residential substance abuse treatment facility for adult males under 30 years old. At present, there are 30 individuals residing there, but will likely grow to fill all the 72 beds available in the near future. Bob has over twenty years experience in the healthcare field and has been responsible for designing, overseeing, and maintaining the clinical operations of facilities such as West Care in West Central Florida. He is originally from a small town called Jennerstown, Pa. and for the last six years resided in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he worked as Clinical Director with Phoenix Houses. West Care operates substance abuse treatment facilities in 6 states and the

U.S. Virgin Islands. Bob says that one in ten people in this country have a drug or alcohol problem. His purpose in speaking to us today is to expel some of the myths about substance abuse treatment and to share the successes that is now happening in the lives of many people in Eastern Kentucky. “One of the myths”, says Bob, “is that treatment does not work.” One of the reasons cited for failures is the fact that so many go into treatment, but do not stay long enough to make sure there is no returning to the drugs or alcohol ever again. Given the right prescription of time and treatment, the success rate is higher than most of the general public are aware of. Secondly, there is a myth that the treatment costs too much. But, when the cost of incarceration, healthcare and medical treatment is factored into the equation, it is much more costly to not treat the offenders. Most kids who abuse drugs and alcohol come from parents who themselves have abused substances and have been involved with the criminal justice system. They are five times more likely to follow such behavior patterns than kids who have not seen that example in their parents. The drugs themselves are much more potent these days and what used to be experimentation in generations past becomes addictions after the first few tries today. Criminalizing these behaviors in the testing policies of schools and businesses without the capacity to offer alternative treatments is also a symptom of the problem. Such tests shouldn’t be done with a punitive nature in mind, but to identify the individual so that help can provided for them. Finally, building more prisons and opening more beds in treatment facilities isn’t the answer either, Bob contends, but a community-wide intervention strategy involving all the components of social, governmental, healthcare, and educational systems working together will be more successful than any of them separately. The greatest incentive of all is to witness the miracle of recovery in a person’s life. Bob says it is just like watching a new birth - the intervention of divinity. Bob closed by saying that any person can be admitted to the Ashcamp facility - by the courts, referrals from medical professionals, or by family members who just want to get help for a loved one. Thanks, Bob and Jenifer for a very informative program. We hope that many of our young people will find the help they need at West Care. - JMC