Arizona Profile 1997

Drug Strategies

Making A Difference
Treatment Programs

>>Phoenix
Mobilizing Treatment and Prevention in the Streets
That's the edict of TERROS, a community-based organization providing mobile prevention, education and treatment services to the Phoenix area as part of ComCare's community outreach and crisis response system.

A grassroots program, TERROS started in 1969 as a crisis hotline and drop-in program. Today, it is a multi-service center serving thousands of individuals and families annually. Mobile services make it unique. TERROS has two mobile psychiatric crisis counseling units, responding to over 5,000 drug and alcohol-related crises each year. Dispatched by local fire and police department emergency response systems, mobile units have been available 24 hours a day, seven days a week since 1986.

Its HIV Street Outreach Program conducts HIV testing, counseling, treatment referral, and prevention education in communities with intravenous drug users. Program staff provide referral and educational services, and distribute condoms to addicts in shooting galleries. TERROS also provides school-based HIV education. To learn more about the many programs at TERROS, call (602) 234-8900.

>>Tucson
Responding to the Needs of a Changing Community
As Tucson and surrounding areas have grown in recent years, CODAC Behavioral Health Services have expanded as well. Since 1970, CODAC has battled substance abuse in Pima County. Initially funded by a million dollar grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, CODAC created a network of treatment and prevention programs to meet the multiple needs of its community. For preschool children there is Building Me, a prevention program which encourages self-awareness, building resistance to alcohol and other drug abuse later in life. In 1983, CODAC introduced Project Pride into Pima County elementary schools. Project Pride helps children avoid involvement with alcohol and other drugs, with a focus on personal goals and conflict resolution. It has been used in hundreds of Arizona schools. Las Amigas is a residential program for pregnant and post-partum women who have lost custody of their children due to substance abuse. With a focus on family reunification, this CSAP-funded program has a 100 percent reunification rate among mothers who complete treatment. CODAC also offers outpatient treatment and related services for adults, adolescents, and those referred by the criminal justice system. For further information, contact CODAC at (602) 327-4505.

>>Phoenix
Empowering Arizona's Most Troubled Citizens
Methadone maintenance programs return hope to heroin addicts when other treatments fail. Valle del Sol is Arizona's largest methadone maintenance program. Begun in 1968, Valle del Sol has three sites serving over 700 people in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is unique because it treats the most challenging drug addicts: chronic heroin addicts, most of whom are also HIV positive, pregnant and/or mentally ill. Prescribed doses of methadone, a legal narcotic, are used in conjunction with testing, group counseling and support services. After progressing through the program, clients eventually take their methadone at home and report to the program just once or twice a week. Valle del Sol participants play a unique role in their own treatment, with a Client Advocacy Group that advises staff on client needs. Valle del Sol's Hispanic Leadership Institute uses the same philosophy of empowerment, training people to be leaders within their communities. To learn more about Valle del Sol, call (602) 258-6797.

>>Pascua Yaqui Reservation
Moving Down the PATH to Recovery
Alcoholism is a virtual epidemic among the American Indian population, with alcoholism mortality among American Indians residing on reservations nearly 7 times higher than the national rate. The Pascua Alcoholism Treatment Home (PATH), located on the Pascua Yaqui Indian reservation, is making a difference in the lives of alcoholic women. Using a 12-step model tailored to meet the needs of American Indian women, the entirely female staff incorporates spiritual exploration and culturally familiar elements, such as talking circles, and "sweats" for prayer and meditation. During a three day "vision quest" in the wilderness, clients use meditation to help them envision a life free from addiction. Each client writes her life story, which then forms the basis for her specialized treatment plan. After three years, 50 percent of PATH clients have completed treatment. Originally funded by CSAP, the program currently receives tribal funds and funding through the Arizona Department of Health Service. PATH also has programs for Native American men. PATH phone numbers: (520) 883-5145 (women's programs) and (520) 883-5152 (men's programs).

>>Phoenix
Making Treatment a Family Affair
EMPACT believes that effective treatment involves the abuser's family and social support system, treating the individual within the community that cultivated the addiction. Using a behavioral model, EMPACT produces change through brief, solution-focused interventions. Its Teen Substance Abuse Treatment Services (TSATS) program, funded by CSAT, provides outpatient treatment to chemically dependent youth ages 13 to 18. A home-based program, TSATS uses strategic interventions to build upon each family's strengths emphasizing parenting skills, consistency, limit setting and positive interaction. Individual treatment focuses on effective communication, managing emotions, conflict resolution, and drug education. EMPACT's treatment program for juveniles in the criminal justice system uses the same approach. EMPACT started in 1985, and serves more than 2,000 people each year. To learn more about EMPACT, call (602) 784-1514.

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