New Directions, Cleveland, Ohio

New Directions Overview

New Directions is a recovery center which provides quality life-changing treatment to adolescents and young adults with substance abuse problems as well as their families. They also help patients who are dealing with emotional, psychiatric, and behavioral problems and difficulties.
The story of this treatment center began in 1979 when the State Plan from the Ohio Department of Health identified that youth substance abuse treatment was the most important health priority in Ohio. The plan was allocated and awarded to the first community with a goal to provide commitment, vision along with a strong treatment program that would help adolescents and young adults with mental health problems and addiction. That’s when New Directions was born. The treatment center provides both inpatient and outpatient treatment programs.

New Directions Housing

Residential treatment at New Directions takes place in a dorm-style gender-specific facility. That means that boys and girls spend their time in two different buildings. The facility can house about 34 patients in total, but there are usually 13 to 18 patients at a time. The building is comprised of three rooms, and each of them features two bunk beds. Four patients share one room. Residents share a bathroom and are responsible for their own laundry.

New Directions Treatment Options

New Directions provides both residential and outpatient treatment programs. Their patients are usually high school students so they made a lot of effort to develop a unique program that would help them recover and learn at the same time. To culture a learning environment each patient gets a laptop they can use to study. Length of the residential program is about 60 days, but some patients complete their treatment in 45 days. It all comes to down the client, how much they work on recovery and other factors of course. Residential treatment is also gender-specific, i.e. girls and boys are separated during counseling and other parts of the program as well.
In addition to residential treatment, New Directions provides non-intensive outpatient program and intensive outpatient program. Outpatient programs are suitable for patients whose addiction, mental health, emotional, or behavioral problems are not severe enough to require residential treatment. These programs are also practical for adolescents who are showing signs of addiction and the above-mentioned problems, but also for patients who have completed residential treatment and need additional support for a more stable recovery.

New Directions Therapies Provided

Therapy is the vital segment of every strong treatment program, particularly when adolescents are involved. The goal of therapy is to help patients resolve their emotional and mental health problems, but also to enable them to cope with different situations in a healthy manner. That way, it’s easier to recover from substance abuse as well. Individual and group therapy sessions are provided.
Therapies used at New Directions include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Family systems therapy
• Trauma therapy
• Strengths-based therapy
• Reality therapy
• Motivational enhancement therapy

New Directions Payment Options

Various payment options are available in order to make it easier for adolescents to get much-needed treatment at New Directions. The treatment center provides payment assistance, and its services are covered by some private insurances, Medicaid. Self-pay options are also available along with state financial aid. If patients need help paying for treatment at New Directions they can apply with Prosper HealthCare Lending. In other words, the treatment center introduced different payment methods to make sure everyone who needs help is able to use their services for a healthy recovery. Bearing in mind today’s lifestyle is hectic they also arranged online bill pay.

New Directions Licenses

The treatment center is accredited by Joint Commission (JCAHO), the most significant accreditation a facility of this kind can obtain. Basically, this certification is only issued to treatment centers that provide a strong, high-quality program to their patients. Only those facilities which meet the highest standards are able to become JCAHO accredited. This information gives new hope to parents that their children will receive the best care possible while in the treatment.

New Directions Amenities

Treatment services provided by New Directions come with different amenities, such as:

• Psychiatric assessment and medication management
• Case management
• Home-based therapy/recovery support services
• Parent education program
• Recovery housing
• Recovery app and coaching
• Crisis intervention
• Individualized treatment Through

the above-mentioned amenities, the treatment center supports clients and their families to create a healthy environment for a better recovery. To learn more about other amenities, they offer you can always contact New Directions.

New Directions Staff

Staff members at New Directions are well-educated, highly knowledgeable, and have vast experience in working with adolescents and young adults with mental health, behavioral, and emotional problems and addiction to drug and alcohol. Teachers who work at New Directions are employees of the nearby Orange High School. They work together with native schools of each patient to make sure they stay on pace academically. That way, students don’t miss out on lessons and exams thus finding it easier to adjust to “regular” school after the treatment. Although informative, the official website doesn’t provide information about biographies and roles of each team member. They just have a page where the names of the staff are listed. For example:

• Mike Matoney – chief executive officer
• Alice Iden – chief operating officer
• Dr. Phil Fragassi – medical director
• Sue Tager – director of performance improvement and outpatient services
• Harold Abraham
• Richard Bain
• Michelle Cimperman
• Melissa D. Cole
• Mary Ganske
• Ryan Miday
• Linda Perlic