NEWS RELEASE October 2002
Alcohol & Drug Recovery Centers, Inc. (ADRC) was honored by a visit from the Honorable Andrea Grubb Barthwell, MD, FASAM, Deputy Director for Demand Reduction, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Dr. Barthwell was given a presentation of ADRC’s Substance Abuse Treatment Enhancement Project, SATEP, as an example of how Connecticut is responding to Region IV substance abusers’ need for an effective system of care.
SATEP is funded by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and was developed by ADRC and its partners to address problems of access, transportation, housing, treatment and coordination while responding to the needs of substance abusers for an effective system of care that includes both case management and outpatient services. ADRC’s partners in the project include Advanced Behavioral Health, Hartford Behavioral Health, Institute Health Care/Institute of Living, and Institute for the Hispanic Family.
Dr. Barthwell was particularly interested in the nontraditional services offered by SATEP: Access Line, Regional Transportation and Transitional Housing. The Access Line, provided by Advanced Behavioral Health, operates a centralized dedicated toll-free telephone line 24 hours a day, seven days a week for accessible and timely substance abuse assessment and referral services for north central Connecticut. Last fiscal year the access line registered more than 7,800 unduplicated calls and is expected to exceed that call volume in its current fiscal year.
The Regional Transportation system, which operates around the clock, serves clients without transportation who are transferring from one level treatment facility to another but do not require an ambulance. Last year more than 1,900 clients, including more than 325 who were transported to care providers located outside of the region, were safely transported.
Transitional Housing provides safe, supervised short-term housing for men and women who are awaiting admission to their next level of acre. The availability of a safe, supervised, and supportive environment helps assure that the client will remain stable while maintaining a continuous involvement in a coordinated system of care.
SATEP has significantly improved client access to care and the ability of clients to move from one level of care to another. “The success of this collaborative system of care is attributable to the project’s ability to dynamically respond to the changing needs of clients,” said Kenneth Talge, A.C.S.W., ADRC’s president and chief executive officer.
Talge said that new treatment initiatives, such as the opioid agonist treatment protocol (OATP) and general assistance intensive case management (GAICM), have successfully integrated clients into SATEP’s services. Coordinated treatment plans for individuals with complex needs and co-occurring disorders are developed during biweekly case conferences with ADRC/Blue Hills Substance Abuse Services/Capital Regional Mental Health Center and other providers.
SATEP is headquartered on the Mount Sinai Campus of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, ADRC is a Saint Francis Care provider.