T.E.A.C.H.

CALIFORNIA PROVIDER OFFERS COLLEGE PROGRAM TO RESIDENTS

Reprinted from Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly
Monday October 8, 2001
Volume 13, No. 38

Sober Living by the Sea, a residential treatment provider in Newport Beach Calif. is on the cutting edge of bringing educational services to its clients. While many treatment programs have educational and/or vocational components, Sober Living by the Sea actually enables residents to enroll as students at area colleges or universities.
The TEACH (Transitional Education Action Career Help) program is in its sixth year. The program began with students taking classes at nearby Saddleback College. Students live in residences on the grounds of Sober Living by the Sea and commute by van to the college.

The college curriculum becomes part of the treatment process, and many students take courses in human relations and development, building on the knowledge they're learning through their treatment program.

Saddleback College was a natural fit because it offers a credentialing program for counselors and others in the human-services field. The arrangement between Sober Living by the Sea and Saddleback started as a way for residents to go on and get certified as counselors. Sober Living by the Sea has taken the concept further by allowing students to take courses for college credit as part of their residential treatment program.
Residents stay at Sober Living by the Sea for about six to nine months, though some stay longer than a year. Upon successful completion, they then have the option of moving to transitional housing while staying enrolled in school.

While the focus of the program remains at Saddleback, residents are also enrolling at other area colleges and universities, including the University of California Irvine and California State University, Fullerton.

"The program keeps people interested, motivated, upwardly moving, creating new ideas, and instilling hope for continued recovery, sobriety and a better quality of life," Rick Mermelstein, TEACH program coordinator, told ADAW. "It's a very healthy distraction while the recovery process occurs."

The program enrolls about 30 people per semester, said Mermelstein. Those who enroll tend to stay sober for an entire year. Mermelstein credits the program's high success rate to the self-motivated nature of the individuals and the fact that they become involved in the lifestyle of the program's education component, rather than becoming isolated.

Mermelstein said the program isn't so much about academics as it is about taking on life on life's terms. "School presents a whole bunch of typical life issues-deadlines, challenges, interacting with people in and out of recovery," he said.
Though instructors and professors are aware of students from the TEACH program, the rest of the student populace is unaware that a given student is in recovery. TEACH personnel remain in contact with instructors to monitor how residents are doing.
About 40 to 50 percent of clients continue on as students after they leave Sober Living by the Sea, said Mermelstein. These students include individuals from across the country and around the world, he added. Residents in the program range from college-age to those in their mid-40s.

Residents at Sober Living by the Sea self-pay, though they may attempt to recoup some costs through insurance, and a foundation has been established to help defray the costs for some.

About 20 percent of individuals who have enrolled in the program have taken work in the human-services field, including many who have become substance abuse counselors. While students are encouraged to take courses in the human-services field because it is a close fit with the recovery process, there are no requirements on the courses a student take.

Sober Living by the Sea keeps in touch with graduates of the TEACH program. They are called on a weekly basis after the first three months of their departure, then on a monthly basis for up to a year. "People keep in touch…. they let us know what is going on in their lives," said Mermelstein.

Long-term, Mermelstein would like to see the program and concept expand to other colleges and universities across the country.

If you need help, please don't put it off any longer. Contact us today.

Sober Living By The Sea Treatment Centers
2811 Villa Way
Newport Beach, CA 92663
UK: 0800-849-1200 (UK free call)
1-800-99-22-98 (Ireland free call)
US: 1-800-647-0042

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