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- 1. Supportive services and housing for persons recovering from substance use disorders. AshevilleRecoveryGroup.org
- 2. • Asheville Recovery Group (ARG) is committed to providing professionally staffed transitional living homes. • ARG’s responsibility in the continuum of care is to provide professionally staffed and well managed recovery homes. • ARG is a well-rounded, progressive supportive recovery residence providing most of the basic needs for the individuals we serve. Our services are based on the latest EBP.
- 3. • Founded due to economic crisis of 2008-2009 • Grew organically into a recovery residence • Purchased current residence from Caring for Children, Inc in 2011 • ARG formed NC nonprofit in early 2011 • Formed BOD formed early 2012 • Seeking 501c(3) status summer 2012
- 4. • A two story, seven bedroom, 2800SF home • Located in a middle-class neighborhood near downtown • A full size grocery store is within a three minute walk • Bus stop is at the end of the block • The Public Library is within walking distance • Emergency service less than 1 mile away • Most importantly dozens of 12-step meetings within a few minutes walk
- 5. • Executive Director: Lydia Scott, B.S. Criminology, MSW student, with NASW member and insured. • General Manager: Gerald D. Scott Jr, Retired EMS, CSAC-Intern Member of NADAAC and Insured • Board Chair: Brack Jefferys, PhD.; compliance director of 57 TC’s • Other staff and interns are either Peer Support Specialists or CSAC eligible who are NCSAAP registered with NCSAPPB supervision.
- 6. • No time limit for stay • Large fully equipped Kitchen • No more than two men in 120 SF • UDO standards utilized for living space (no cramming) • Can accommodate up to 12 clients with two live-in managers • Limits on sugar and corn syrup • BEST OF ALL!- Our clients eat like kings for FREE! • We provide organic and whole grain options • We are a private distributor of
- 7. • Individual medication monitoring • Individual case management • Weekly PhD led meditation classes • Live in therapeutic animals • Wii Games & Netflix access • Computer, Wi-Fi and long distance phone service
- 8. • ARG understands medication-assisted recovery • ARG accepts MAT clients • ARG safeguards medications and monitors use • ARG supports doctor prescribed medication • ARG educates client’s on relevant health issues • ARG supplies healthy food alternatives VIDEO
- 9. • Bases decisions in context of situations • Believes in self-determination • Self-governance and PSS advocacy • Values flexibility and balance in daily living • Accepts the complex situations that our clients face • Manages and brokers resources for those we serve
- 10. • Accepts the humanness of those we serve • Values the uniqueness of those we serve • Welcomes GLBTQ, ethnically and culturally diverse individuals • Advocates for the housing rights
- 11. • Encourages individuals to remember and believe in their aspirations • Collaborates with individuals unique routes to success • Encourages higher education • Guides the educational process • Builds career and social skills
- 12. • HIPPA and CFR 42 regulations followed • NASW and NAADAC ethical standards • Flexible structure supports individualism • Mandatory engagement in aftercare • Drug screening- random and for cause • Relapse or behavioral problems evaluated by decision matrix
- 13. Cat Wt Weight CLIENT STAYS CLIENT GOES CLIENT STAYS WITH BEHAVIOR CONTRACT SAFETY OUTSIDE 20 0.2 0 0.2 CLIENT 10 10 0 10 COMMUNITY 10 10 0 10 SAFETY IN HOUSE 20 0 0.19 0 RELAPSED CLIENT 5 0 6 0 OTHER MEMBERS 10 0 5 0 HOUSE MANAGERS 5 0 8 0 PRECEDENT 20 0 0.25 0.2 ENABLING CLIENT 10 0 10 7 TO OTHER MEMBERS 10 0 10 8 REPUTATION 0 0 5 5 ETHICS 40 0 0.17 0.33 FOR CLIENT 10 0 0 10 FOR OTHER MEMBERS 15 0 2 10 PROGRAM VIABILITY 5 0 5 5 MANAGER EFFICIENCY 10 0 10 8 Total 100 0.2 0.61 0.73 Instructions: Add factors in the decision in column B (for a job, this might be commute, pay, etc.) Make sure you copy formulas if you add rows… Change weights so that they add to 100 (see below cat weight column) This forces you to understand how important these elements are to you relative to each other I've shown my weights and scores for fictitious job options Fill out green areas with scores from 1-10 Note for negatives, reverse your thinking (so a high score on a negative like Risk means it's NOT risky) Use cat wt subtotals to help guide your weighting the weighted averages are shown as subtotals and absolute totals along the bottom. Resulting scores are shown at the bottom of each option
- 15. We will work to accommodate potential client’s seeking recovery to the best of our abilities. Our entry fees are on a sliding scale. Call to discuss your individual client’s needs. • Weekly service fee: $ 160 • Entry fee $ 2500 • Background check: $ 26
- 16. • History of a chemical dependency disorder • Male between 19 and 65 years of age • Clean from illicit drugs and sober • Ambulatory and in general good health • Willing to participate in a recovery program • Able to meet all financial responsibilities • Fluently speak and understand English • No convictions for manufacturing narcotics • Not listed on The National Sex Offender Registry
- 17. • Clothing: Jeans, slacks, sport shirts, T-shirts and walking shorts. No provocative or racist clothing. We suggest wash-and-wear clothing. Include a suit for special events if you have one. • Don't Bring: TV’s, desktop computers, fish tanks, black lights, straight razors, expensive jewelry or other valuable items * Products with alcohol: cologne, mouth wash, after shave or hand sanitizer. *we suggest bringing nothing that is irreplaceable
- 18. E-mail: Gerald Scott or Lydia Scott at AvlRecovery@gmail.com or call 828-423-0023. You may also visit AshevilleRecoveryGroup.org for more information.
Editor's Notes
- Hello and thank you for taking time to learn about Asheville Recovery Group. My name is Gerald Scott and I will be guiding you through the pages of our presentation. Asheville Recovery Group (ARG) is a recovery residence that takes pride in being affiliated with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), Manna Food Bank, the National Association of Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), the NC Center for Nonprofits and the NC Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board (NCSAPPB). ARG provides supportive services and housing for persons recovering from substance use disorders. You can see our website listed above as AshevilleRecoveryGroup.org—you will find more specific information on the sliding scale fees and application at this site. But please call us about current bed availability as this may change rapidly.
- Here are a few snippets from our mission statement, philosophy and vision statement. We feel that it is ARG’s responsibility to provide professionally staffed and well-managed recovery homes. We will look at ARG’s mission and philosophy more in depth later in the presentation and how ARG actually puts that philosophy into practice. Our vision of ARG is a well-rounded, progressive supportive recovery residence that provides most of the basic needs of the individuals that we serve. ARG is not a treatment center, nor and aftercare program. We expect the client will receive these wraparound services outside of our agency. However, we often provide case management in attaining those services if needed. ARG’s policies and procedures are based on a progressive model and the latest evidence-based practices. For example, SAMHSA has great amounts of research on the effectiveness of medication assisted therapy and the civil housing rights of those who receive the therapy. Later we will discuss more specifically how that impacts our policies and procedures.
- ARG was founded due to the economic crisis of 2009. The founders decided to rent out rooms to recovering people. Over time the home grew into a recovery residence. Unfortunately, ARG and its residents were evicted from their first home. But there is a silver lining in every cloud and Caring for Children, formally a nonprofit group home for children, helped ARG to buy its first home. ARG is currently seeking 501c(3) status.
- ARG’s residence is a large two story, seven bedroom home located in a nice friendly neighborhood community. As you can see in the map with the little icons the residence is superbly located on the bus line near a full-service grocery store and a meeting room which offers numerous AA meetings every day of the week. We are only a few minutes from downtown by bus. Additionally, there are many opportunities for finding work in the West Asheville area where the home is located. .
- ARG has a Board of Directors. We have a licensed clinical addiction specialist, Janice Kitson and Lydia Scott on the board of directors. Lydia Scott has a bachelor’s in criminal justice/criminology and is working on her MSW that will have a substance abuse certificate along with it. Gerald Scott is our Executive Director. He is a retired emergency medical technician and is currently pursuing his credentialing in substance abuse counseling under the North Carolina substance abuse professional practice board. House managers have Peer Support Specialist training or are registered with the North Carolina substance abuse professional practice board. Staff also receives clinical supervision, CPR, first aid, blood-borne pathogens, medication aide technician training; as well as, pertinent issues surrounding behavioral health like ethics, diversity, labeling, boundaries, HIPPA, nonviolent crisis intervention, sexual harassment in basic reflective listening skills.
- Now, Let’s move on to some of the hopefully more interesting points. There is no time limit for staying at ARG. Individuals can stay as long as they want. We abide by the unified development ordinance standards set by this state of North Carolina and the city of Asheville. This means, essentially, that we provide 120 ft.² of living space for every two people in a bedroom. ARG’s residence can accommodate up to 12 clients comfortably. You may see a little picture in this slide of our kitchen and it is much larger than it looks here, of course. There is also a small picture of a table full of food representing the large amounts of food available at our home. And when we say large, we mean LARGE. We are a private distributor of Manna food bank. However, this is not a free-for-all of just any kind of food. We try to limit sugar, corn syrup, white flour and focus on organic and whole-grain options when we are selecting food to demonstrate that eating healthy can be really delicious-- and our delight, many of them do agree. They are encouraged to try a different and new foods. You would be surprised how many healthy options that end up at Manna food bank. We certainly are pleasantly surprised every week. By bringing home these healthy selections it encourages the men to try new things every week. We have actually seen men’s health and mood improve significantly after eating healthy food for several weeks from Manna food bank. On the other hand, not everyone always appreciates eating healthy. One of our clients actually said, “I’m tired in the evening shrimp and steak. I just want some pizza.”
- Since ARG accepts individuals who are prescribed controlled substances and medication-assisted recovery; then, we secure those medications in a locked safe and open it twice a day. At this time, our policy is to log controlled substances. We have a professor who has done much research on meditation and its positive effects on recovering individuals who leads a weekly meditation class. Additionally, ARG has therapeutic animals in the home; two cats and one dog at this time. Everyone has their favorite pet and we find the therapeutic relationship is just as an beneficial for the pets as it is for the individuals. Last but not least, we have the standard Wii games and Netflix, along with computer, Wi-Fi and long distance phone service.
- As we have stated before ARG does except and support medication assisted recovery while safeguarding and monitoring medications. We have heard of some agencies actually pouring out prescribed medication. Not only is this illegal, but we at ARG view this as problematic interference with another’s self-determination.
- We know that our clients do not come to us with simple lives. This may sound obvious but ARG has policies and procedures that take into account many mitigating factors when deciding how to work with a client or to discharge a client. We will talk a little bit more about this later on. Our peer support specialists actually are advocates for the rest of the group. They act as a liaison between the residence in the home and upper management. This means that the house is actually mostly self governed regarding daily issues. Since ARG is not a treatment center and is a real home we feel it our responsibility to demonstrate or role model flexible and balanced living. We place more emphasis on content rather than form. We do not have a rigid militaristic cleaning program. However, everyone does have cleaning days and chores; but, our philosophies are “progress not perfection” and “easy does it, but do it.” Sound familiar? We want our clients to discover that activities of daily living do not need to be dreaded.
- One of our overriding philosophies is social justice. We except the humanness of those we serve and that means that “to err is human.” We do not discharge clients for minor infractions. Furthermore, we may not discharge clients for fairly serious infractions. ARG offers behavior contracts to those who have serious behavioral problems or even relapse. However, this would not apply if the person is a danger to others in the house or needs to be referred to another agency that is more appropriate. That does not mean that we have not discharge clients and taking them to the mission if there is no other alternative. On a lighter note, ARG feels that we are one of the more progressive agencies that Opens our arms to diverse populations. We have somewhat of a reputation for that among diverse groups of recovering people we are told. Sometimes, individuals have come to us after arriving and told us that they finally feel safe. We make it clear for all entering that no harassment of any individuals will be tolerated, especially protected classes.
- Another of our philosophies is that we try to encourage individuals to dream again and to believe in themselves. One of the first things that we try to uncover are the forgotten talents, hobbies and goals that were buried by the disease of addiction. We encourage individuals to seek routes to realize their dreams and often times this means supporting the educational process. ARG is a big believer education and engagement in the community.
- ARG staff is well-versed in HEPA laws and CFR 42 regulations. Management is a member of either NCSAPPB, NASW or NAADAC. ARG doesbelieve in self-determination; however, the program which we offer requires mandatory engagement in either aftercare or a recovery program. This can be either smart recovery, celebrate recovery, or a 12-step program. Individuals do not have to work full-time if they can pay their administrative fees but we do require at least part-time engagement with the community; even if it’s volunteer work. Drug screening may be random or “for cause.“ If we do find that someone has relapsed, then at that time we apply a decision matrix created specifically for ARG’s principles and guidelines to aid in our decision-making process.
- This is a quick snapshot of the Excel program loaded with our decision matrix. There are 36 different weighted decisions which factor into whether a client is discharge or not. We feel by using this decision matrix that we support ourselves by mitigating counter transference and its harmful effects. Further, this is a tool that reduces arbitrary and capricious decision making. Although we are not ready go into the details of this matrix, let us look at the bar graph which this decision matrix produced.
- The matrix demonstrated that it was a better decision for everyone that this client stayed with a behavioral contract. This means that, although the decision is not a perfect decision, it is better than the other two decisions-which were either, to stay or to be discharged. This matrix was created by the Executive Director of ARG and we believe unique to ARG and it’s policies and procedures. This is the type of procedural policy which sets ARG apart from other similar agencies in terms of fairness and social justice regarding clients.
- As you can see here, there is a summarized version of our weekly service fees. To see the current detailed sliding-scale of fees, please visit Ashevillerecoverygroup.org
- At the current time basic client eligibility is based on a primary diagnosis of a chemical dependency disorder, a male between 19 and 65 years of age and of course they must be clean and sober. Ironically, the client cannot have any convictions for manufacturing narcotics or else they are not covered by the ADA. That is important since we are considered a house for the disabled. They must be able to speak and understand English fluently since we do not have Spanish speaking staff at this time. They must be fully ambulatory since we have bedrooms on the second floor and generally be in good health. The client cannot be listed on the national sex offender registry. The client must be able to meet all financial responsibilities and most importantly be willing to participate in some sort of recovery program
- Items to bring; we are not setting strict limits but we asked people to bring only about a weeks worth of clothing. Clothes are to be washed every week anyway and having less clothes helps the client remember this sometimes. But most importantly, it is to help the living space to be more comfortable for all individuals. We try to emphasize that they Should not bring irreplaceable objects. However, we will allow laptops, phones and other enjoyable similar items within reason at the individual’s.
- We hope you have enjoyed this presentation. We hope you will give ARG the chance to provide your agency with the continuum of care that your client’s deserve. We wish to enhance and continue your hard work with positive outcomes and many happy endings. Does anyone have any questions? E-mail: Gerald Scott or Lydia Scott at avlrecovery@gmail.com or call 828-423-0023.you may also visit Ashevillerecoverygroup.org for more information.