CCA Recognizes National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
Many dedicated addictions treatment professionals are responsible for changing lives, one inmate and one day at a time at Corrections Corporation of America’s (CCA) more than 65 facilities across the country.
And CCA, the nation’s largest provider of corrections management services to federal, state and local government, is honoring these professionals and the immense impact of their daily work during September’s National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month and National Addiction Professionals Day, which occurs on September 20. This commemorative month and special professional recognition day aim to support the value of drug and alcohol treatment, while upholding the belief that recovery is realistic – and possible – for all.
“Many addictions treatment professionals feel called to perform this noble work,” said Dennis Bradby, CCA vice president of Inmate Programs. “In our organization, they motivate inmates to overcome their addictions and serve as voices of reason and sources of support. They work in the ‘trenches’ each day with offenders who must achieve sobriety in order to successfully rehabilitate and eventually re-enter society.”
CCA’s addictions treatment managers, counselors and coordinators collectively address the rehabilitative needs of inmates who have a history of drug and alcohol dependency at each of the company’s jails, prisons and detentions centers.
“National statistics tell us that an overwhelming number of inmates have addictions-related issues,” said Tim O’Dell, CCA director of Addictions Treatment and Behavioral Programs. “Many of them committed crimes while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Since these drug dependencies often started during offenders’ adolescence, achieving and maintaining sobriety is a tremendous feat of deeply personal proportions for inmates.”
Through CCA’s standardized residential drug abuse treatment program (RDAP), inmates participate in a nine- to 15-month addictions treatment community. Adopted by CCA approximately three years ago and now activated in 15 of the company’s facilities, RDAP features customized treatment plans, individual and group therapy, and an intensive curriculum.
“The likelihood of being a recidivist is greatly reduced by going through this program,” O’Dell explained. “Rational thinking becomes a habitual practice for offenders as they abandon criminal thought processes, which promote irresponsible and anti-social behavior, such as drug use.”
CCA facilities across the country will be celebrating National Alcohol and Drug Recovery Month and National Addiction Professionals Day through facility events and other recognition efforts. The program is currently in place at CCA’s Bay Correctional Facility (Panama City, Fla.), Delta Correctional Facility (Greenwood, Miss.), Gadsden Correctional Facility (Quincy, Fla.), Hardeman County Correctional Facility (Whiteville, Tenn.), La Palma Correctional Center (Eloy, Ariz.), Lake City Correctional Facility (Lake City, Fla.), New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility (Grants, N.M.), North Fork Correctional Facility (Sayre, Okla.), Otter Creek Correctional Center (Wheelwright, Ky.), Red Rock Correctional Center (Eloy, Ariz.), Saguaro Correctional Center (Eloy, Ariz.), South Central Correctional Center (Clifton, Tenn.), Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility (Tutwiler, Miss.), Whiteville Correctional Facility (Whiteville, Tenn.) and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (Woodville, Miss.).
“The research tells us that the single most important factor in the success of an offender in an addictions treatment program is the therapeutic relationship between them and the professionals,” O’Dell said. “Their task is extremely difficult and critical to offenders’ success.”
About CCA
CCA is the founder and industry leader of the private corrections management industry, representing the nation’s fifth-largest corrections system, behind the federal government and three states. CCA currently operates 66 facilities, including 42 that are company-owned, with a total design capacity of approximately 82,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 17,000 employees who provide comprehensive educational, vocational, therapeutic and addictions treatment programs intended to prepare inmates for successful re-integration with society.
