Phoenix targets under-treated population
If there’s one thing Deborah Beste has learned in her 12 years at Phoenix Programs, Inc. she says, it’s that alcoholism and drug addiction cut across all social and economic lines.
Beste heads the Columbia-based not-for-profit-agency, which has a $1.4 million annual budget and 50 employees and every year provides treatment to about 2,000 clients struggling with addictions. That number grows each year by about by 100 to 200 individuals.
“We are treating the tip of the iceberg on this illness,” Beste says. “About 25 percent of those clients are homeless, but that doesn’t mean that many of them don’t have some means or education. The disease took them to a place that left them without a foundation. We have people with college degrees and family connections. We have clients who have owned their businesses and lost them due to their addictions.”
Studies show that 28 million Americans need substance-abuse treatment, yet only 3 million receive such services, she says. According to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, only 11 percent of Boone County residents who need treatment actually receive it.
“That means for a local company with 100 employees, perhaps 10 employees have an addiction problem, but less than two of those will ever seek treatment, and the others are hanging out there getting in trouble,” she says. “The cost of these addictions can be costly to businesses in absenteeism, poor performance and the cost of employee turnover.”
A myth about chemical-dependence treatment is that the person must hit bottom to finally own up to the problem. “That myth is a barrier to people getting help,” she says
An employer who knows a worker comes in hung over or is absent a lot doesn’t do the employee any good by thinking the he or she will get help on his or her own, Beste says; it’s better for an employer to say, “You’re a good worker. I want you here, but there are conditions. Maybe you don’t think you have a problem, but you need to get an assessment.”
Treatment does not need to be voluntary to be effective. Sanctions made in the employment setting or in a family can increase treatment entry, where clients get help on the first rung instead of hitting bottom, she says. Substance-abuse treatment is very effective, and early treatment makes for a better prognosis.
Eighty percent of Phoenix clients are male, in keeping with the roots of the Phoenix Program, which began serving alcoholic men in 1974. Other programs in the Columbia area serve exclusively female clientele.
The largest Phoenix client demographic is males in their late 20s and early 30s, Beste says. Fifty percent of clients coming to Phoenix Programs are unemployed, many having lost jobs because of their addictions, she says.
Beste says some people with substance-abuse problems believe they brought it on themselves and feel guilty as a result.
“Addiction is a predisposition and has a genetic link just like any other chronic health condition,” she says.
Phoenix offers both outpatient and inpatient treatments. A sliding scale fee ranges from $17 to $300 a month.
Phoenix opened Phillip House, 109 Forest Ave., in December to permanently house 10 people who have had numerous episodes of homelessness, substance abuse and mental-health issues.
Construction is due to start sometime later this year on a 28,000-square-foot facility between Leslie and Texas avenues to consolidate substance-abuse services. Currently treatment sites are located at 1004 l0th St. and 607 S. 5th St. with headquarters at 409 Vandiver Drive. Services in the new building will include modified medical detoxification, nicotine treatment, gender-sensitive programs for women and expanded family treatment centers.
Phoenix has been granted neighborhood assistance tax credits by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, providing lucrative tax credits for donors.