The Coalition Reports on the Importance of Jobs: Employment During Treatment Helps People Achieve Stable Recovery
Posted: 03-24-2010 : RALEIGH, N.C.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Last Thursday, President Obama signed an $18 billion jobs bill with the hopes of putting Americans back to work in time for fall’s mid-term elections. Here in North Carolina, unemployment figures remain among the highest in the nation, and Governor Perdue has made job creation her top priority.

People who are unemployed have an increased risk of substance abuse and addiction. As a result, a critical component of addiction treatment is to improve the life skills that help people maintain employment and attain economic self-sufficiency. At therapeutic communities such as TROSA in Durham and FIRST at Blue Ridge, Inc. in Buncombe County, the development of work skills are part of their recovery programs.

FIRST at Blue Ridge, Inc. operates its own businesses to help support its programs and to provide vocational training and job skills. These businesses include commercial and residential landscaping, moving and delivery, commercial and residential painting, general labor and handyman services as well as commercial janitorial and construction clean-up. FIRST long-term clients participate in vocational training assignments for employers who contract with FIRST as Vocational Training Partners. Those partners include The City of Asheville, The Asheville Civic Center, Ingles Food Warehouse, The Town of Black Mountain, The Town of Montreat, Warren Wilson College and other area businesses.

In facilities across the state, people are receiving substance abuse treatment while maintaining employment. According to the North Carolina TASC Network, which provides care management services to people with substance abuse or mental illness who are involved in the justice system, more than 50% of their clients leaving treatment facilities are employed at the time of their discharge. At Robeson Health Care Corporation, a women’s treatment center with sites in Robeson, Pitt, Moore and Johnston Counties, 46% of its clients are working. Partnership for a Drug-Free NC, Inc. (headquartered in Forsyth County) reports that 57% of its adult substance abuse clients are employed. Coastal Horizons Centers, Inc. in which operates facilities in Eastern North Carolina reports, that after 6 months in treatment, the employment rates is about 70%. Smaller residential centers, like Path of Hope, are also reporting significant employment rates. At this halfway house in Lexington, 7 out of 8 clients are working.

“All of our residents are expected to obtain employment within the first month of their stay,” said Trish Hussey, Executive Director of Freedom House Recovery in Chapel Hill. “In this tough economic climate, it’s getting more difficult to find jobs in the area, but approximately 56% of our folks are employed.”

For people recovering from substance abuse and addiction, working is part of becoming healthy. Treatment providers have made the connection between the fiscal health of our state and maintaining a healthy workforce. By helping people become productive employees, they are creating successful contributors to the North Carolina economy.

For more information on North Carolina Substance Abuse Treatment Providers visit: www.ncsapa.org

The Coalition, comprised of 40 statewide organizations advocating together to meet the needs of North Carolinians living with the disease of addiction, mental illness and developmental disabilities, wants you to know that Employee Assistance Programs can help North Carolina businesses stay healthy . For more information on the work of The Coalition, go to www.thecoalitionnc.org.