CCA Achieves Milestone for Addictions Treatment Professionals
In addictions treatment, like many other fields, staying current and ahead of the curve means a steadfast commitment to continuing education. And Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest provider of corrections management services to local, state and federal government, is offering a new professional development opportunity for employees who help inmates struggling with substance abuse and dependency beat the odds.
With its intensive and innovative company-paid training for addictions treatment professionals, CCA aims to recruit and retain the best and brightest in this specialty.
“This distinction helps employees save time and money as they maintain their professional credentials and earn continuous education units through our training,” said Tim O’Dell, CCA director of Addictions Treatment and Behavioral Programs. “This recognition means that the materials we teach and the methodologies we deliver meet the highest national standards.”
As a member of the National Association for Addiction Treatment Professionals (NAADAC), the largest membership organization for addiction counselors, educators and other addiction-focused health care professionals, CCA offers some of the most relevant and pioneering developmental opportunities available to its nearly 150 addictions-focused specialists.
“The educator provider status is like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval,” said Shirley Beckett-Mikell, director of certification and education for NAADAC. “CCA’s status demonstrates to the professionals across the country that CCA has met high standards and reached a gold status for training.”
The company’s new 96-hour training for addictions treatment professionals embraces new strategies and philosophies that have become industry-accepted standards in effective recovery.
“The most current research shows that an affirming, community-based model of recovery presents the best odds for long-term sobriety, and our updated training reflects that,” added O’Dell.
CCA’s NAADAC-approved curriculum includes three 32-hour blocks of strategic training, based on the company’s residential drug abuse program (RDAP) and therapeutic community model, in which offenders refine core interpersonal and life skills in a collaborative, support-based unit, with customized plans for treatment and aftercare. Professionals also receive in-depth training on clinical assessments, treatment planning and assessment tools.
Becoming a NAADAC-approved education provider was an in-depth process, during which CCA presented a comprehensive document nearly 600 pages in length that outlined the company’s philosophy, approach, practices and methods in addictions treatment.
“Because we were seeking to provide nationally accepted professional programming, it made sense that the staff we train would benefit from training that, essentially, had been vetted by the best,” O’Dell explained.
As CCA’s addiction treatment professionals work to change lives, one offender and one day at a time, the company’s status as a NAADAC-approved provider also enhances the effectiveness of the programming inmates receive, increasing their odds of maintaining lifelong sobriety.
“The return to offenders is that we have more highly qualified staff who better understand the processes associated with favorable outcomes,” O’Dell said. “The NAADAC designation is recognized and respected by state agencies around the country, so this enhances CCA’s inmate programs, our employee training and our reputation as an innovator.”
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.
