Pathway Family Center Meets
President Bush
Southfield, MI—December 12, 2007—A graduate of
Pathway Family Center was selected to consult with
the ONDCP(Office of National Drug Control Policy)
and President Bush in a private roundtable discussion
of community members. The President then made
a statement discussing his 2002 goal of a 25 percent
reduction of teen drug use in the U.S.
During his speech, President Bush recognized the Pathway graduate and another recovering teen on their ability to turn their lives around. The President was very moved by their achievements saying, “Two joyous souls who are inspiring others…you just don’t know whose lives you’ve touched, but you have touched the President’s life. There’s somebody paying attention to you…thanks for leading”.
Terri Nissley President and CEO states, “I am pleased our government has recognized this epidemic and has done efforts to impact adolescent drug use. Pathway Family Center helps teens and their families experience dramatic transformation from drug addiction to meaningful lives”.
The Monitoring the Future Study revealed since 2001, the overall use of illicit drugs by young people has dropped by 24 percent. Marijuana use has decreased by 25 percent. The use of prescription drug abuse has increased between 2002 and 2007. President Bush stated, “It’s up to all of us to urge our fellow citizens to make the right choice—and to help those who make the wrong choice understand the consequences and that there is a more hopeful future”.
Pathway Family Center is a substance abuse treatment center for adolescents. Pathway provides complete continuum of care including: drug screening, substance abuse assessment and referral, outpatient services and our uniquelong-term treatment program.Pathway is a family-centered facility that focuses on teaching coping strategies, life skills and strengthening both individual and family relationships. Its dedicated staff of professionals is experts in substance abuse and behavioral problems. Pathway Family Center has licensed locations in Michigan, Indiana, Northwest Indiana, and Ohio, and has been serving adolescents and their families throughout the nation since 1993.
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Conference:
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Pathway Family Center closer to finding permanent home
August 26, 2007
BY TOM WYATT Post-Tribune staff writer
Pathway Family Center is closer to finding a permanent home in Northwest Indiana. The adolescent drug treatment program is choosing between locations in Burns Harbor, Portage and Valparaiso, CEO Terri Nissley said.
"We thought it would be a really difficult thing to find a permanent home," Nissley said. "But we've been pleasantly surprised. We have about five sites we really like."
For negotiating purposes, Nissley wouldn't say which is the agency's favorite.
Pathway won't begin running a program at the Porter County site for at least 60 days, Nissley said.
Even if Pathway were to settle on a location this week, she said the peer mentoring program and parent training takes about 60 days.
Pathway is in the process of assessing potential clients at the Duneland Health Center in Chesterton.
Nissley said she would like to have between five and seven families lined up before beginning the 60-day period.
"Things are falling into place," Nissley said. "We are so impressed with the commitment in Porter County and how organized the community is and how they've taken on this problem."
Pathway has facilities in Indianapolis, Ohio and Michigan. Pathway owns its Ohio facility but leases in Indianapolis and Michigan. Nissley said Pathway ideally would own the Northwest Indiana location.
"We're going through the process of being approved for a mortgage right now," Nissley said. "Then we'll begin negotiating with our top pick."
The Northwest Indiana location will boast between 8,000 and 15,000 square feet of space for a school classroom, therapy groups and office space.
Nissley said the Northwest Indiana program has raised about $500,000 so far, $200,000 coming from the county.
She said the 18-month budget for the program is about $1.3 million, a portion of which will come from fees for treatment.
Contact Tom Wyatt at 477-6017 or twyatt@post-trib.com
Latest News & Events
Pathway Family Center has teamed up with Qualigence to create "Plan Your Path," a career & college preparation workshop that will help the clients who are approaching graduation plan their future path upon treatment completion. This is a new service that helps Pathway Family achieve their mission to change lives and create productive futures for their youth.
APPROXIMATELY TWO WORKSHOPS PER QUARTER TO INCLUDE:
•Resume writing
Resume writing•Suggestions for interviewing effectively
Suggestions for interviewing effectively•Appropriate communication when scheduling and following-up an interview
Appropriate communication when scheduling and following-up an interview•How to succeed– first day on the job & beyond.
How to succeed– first day on the job & beyond.For more information about the workshops and our partnership with Qualigence CLICK HERE
Pathway Family Center Featured in the Detroit Free Press:
Changing the Lives of Teen Addicts
Southfield Treatment Center a Success
July 24, 2007
BY NAOMI R. PATTON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Textbooks lined the shelves in the small classroom filled with nearly a dozen desks and tables. Artwork hung from the ceilings and walls.
The seven students, ages 16-18, were attending a college and career-planning workshop.
But the workshop, held last week, wasn't entirely typical. It was being held at the Pathway Family Center in Southfield, and the students are all recovering drug addicts.
Matt Pilarski has attended the workshop more than once. Pilarski, 18, of Northville Township is to graduate from Pathway in a month, and he'll attend Schoolcraft College in the fall.
In the workshop, he's impressed by what he has learned about Qualigence, the Livonia-based recruitment research firm running the workshop. He said he has been inspired and "just wants to be a success."
Terri Nissley started Pathway in 1993 with a group of parents, 13 clients and $5,000, when her own daughter's substance abuse treatment center closed because of a lack of funding.
"I wasn't thinking about the thousands of kids that come after," Nissley said. "We took what we had and professionalized it."
Today, Nissley's daughter is 31 and drug-free with her own family, and Nissley is the chief executive officer and president of Pathway, which has treatment centers for kids ages 13-18 in Southfield, Indiana and Ohio. "We look at the entire family as the client," Nissley said. "This is a very intense level of care."
The center's staff includes board-certified physicians, clinical psychologists, therapists, registered nurses and certified teachers.
A study conducted in 1999 by the University of Detroit Mercy found that 82% of the clients and parents surveyed reported being clean and sober within one to three years of graduating from the program.
In 2003, Pathway also was recognized by Washington, D.C.-based Drug Strategies, a national research institute promoting effective drug abuse treatment.
Bruce Stork's son Ian is about to graduate from Pathway. A year ago, he suspected his son was using drugs. For months, there was erratic, belligerent behavior, and shouting matches.
"My wife and I felt like if we didn't do something, we would be going to his funeral or his brain would be fried, or he would end up in jail," said Stork, 51, of New Baltimore.
Going forward, Stork knows how difficult it is for addicts not to relapse, but he said he believes Pathway has given his son and his family a "toolbox ... he's got a leg up. ...I think he's prepared."
Before Pathway, Ian Stork, 17, never thought about college. Now, a senior at Warren Fitzgerald High School and month from graduating from Pathway, he's thinking about it, and he said the workshop "sparked something in my head."
"I just have a better understanding of how life works," Ian said.
Learn more at www.pathwayfamilycenter.org. Contact NAOMI R. PATTON at 313-223-4485 or npatton@freepress.com.
In the Media
*Check us out www.abovetheinfluence.com where Pathway experts are part of a national panel answering questions from teens
* Channel 7 News WXYZ in Detroit interviewed Senior Therapist Vicki Winebarger and two Michigan clients for a piece about back to school, drinking & drugs. It aired Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 on the 5 o'clock news.
* The CBS Early Show will feature Pathway Family Center in a segment on Prescription Drug. Filming will take place at our Ohio Center on Friday, August 31. The show will air between Sept. 5-15.
Pathway Family Center Invited to New York to
Participate in ONDCP Panel on Prescription Drugs
On February 14, 2007 Pathway traveled to New York to help the Office of National Drug Control Policy release some shocking new statistics that reveal teens are turning away from street drugs and instead turning to prescription drugs.
A client from Michigan participated in the panel, and was interviewed by various media after the report was released.
We thank Sara for her bravery in representing Pathway Family
Center, and also for helping to inform the entire country about
the dangers of prescription drug misuse.
The full report on “Teens and Prescription Drugs: Analysis
of Recent Trends on the Emerging Drug Threat” can be
accessed at http://www.mediacampaign.org/teens.
Interest in Pathway Slow to Build
Sunday, September 2, 2007
BY BOB KASARDA
bkasarda@nwitimes.com
219.548.4345
PORTAGE | Faced with one of the nation's worst heroin problems, community leaders across Porter County have rallied behind Pathway Family Center's plans to open a local adolescent drug treatment center.
The same level of enthusiasm, however, has not been demonstrated by local families in need of the services.
Pathway has seen only about a dozen families since it began doing assessments in the county three months ago, Daniel Franz, program director, said.
Only about two in 10 of those assessed are typically found to be appropriate for Pathway's intensive program, he said.
Franz expects interest in the program will increase now that schools are back in session. The strong local support could also end up fueling a bigger response than expected, he said.
Franz encouraged members of the Portage Rotary Club last week to help spread the word about Pathway's services to families in need and other organizations wishing to hear more about the treatment program.
Pathway plans to open its treatment center within the next month or two months in Burns Harbor, Porter or Valparaiso, he said.
Porter County government has contributed $200,000 in local income tax revenues toward the effort, the local Community Action Drug Coalition and an unnamed foundation contributed $100,000 each, and an additional $25,000 came from the coalition's annual Walk Away from Drugs, coalition President and Pathway board member Dr. Mann Spitler said.
Although Pathway is only now opening up shop in the area, Franz said one-third of the families undergoing treatment at the Pathway center in Indianapolis have been from Porter and Lake counties.
The yearlong treatment program targets young people between the ages of 13 and 18, and requires participation from the entire family, he said. A young person with a drug problem is removed from the home during the first few months of treatment and is required to live with the family of someone else further along in the program.
Young people are given time for the drugs to clear out of their system, and they and their families are introduced to 12 steps of recovery and other tools to reshape their lives, Franz said.
The cost of the treatment is based on the ability to pay, he said.
Franz said Pathway's program has a client improvement rate of between 80 percent and 92 percent, as compared to 10 percent to 20 percent among all programs nationally. This rate is based not on perfection, but on improvements in areas such as academics, family health and overall quality of life.
Client assessments are under way at temporary quarters at the Duneland Health and Wellness Institute in Chesterton. To take part, contact Pathway at (800) 261-4605.
NWI Times
"Pathway To Success"
"Helping families -- that's the goal of a new local substance abuse treatment facility in Northwest Indiana...Just ask Sarah Duda and Julie Brown -- two local residents who have been affected by substance abuse", from the January 7, 2008 issue of the The NWI Times.
What's Going on?
Corporate:
Pathway Celebrates 15 Years
03/16-23/08 - National Inhalant Awareness Week
Indiana:
03/01/08 - Texas Hold 'em
April/May - Bowl-a-thon
07/08 - Summer Slam for Sobriety
10/08 - Magic of Kids Gala
12/19/08 - Holiday Open Meeting
Michigan:
03/08 - Celebrate Sobriety Dinner Dance
06/08 - Alumni Event
07/08 - Summer Slam for Sobriety
10/08 - The Magic of Kids Gala
12/19/08 - Holiday Open Meeting
Ohio:
03/08 - Celebrate Sobriety Dinner Dance
07/08 - Summer Slam for Sobriety
10/08 - The Magic of Kids Gala
12/19/08 - Holiday Open Meeting
NorthWest Indiana:
02/21/08 - Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
10/08 - The Magic of Kids Gala
12/19/08 - Holiday Open Meeting
Kids helping Kids
A Pathway Family Center on Channel 12
Kids Helping Kids was featured February 7th on Channel 12 local news. Deborah Dixon interviewed graduate Lydia Gridley on the dangers and warning signs of a prescription drug addiction.
Northwest Indiana Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Chesterton, Indiana—February 21, 2008
Pathway Family Center in Chesterton Indiana, officially opened its newest location to the public today with a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the second phase of its strategic growth plan. Sheriff David Lain, Porter County Commissioner Robert Harper, Robert Taylor Porter County Prosecutors Office and Valparaiso Chamber President Rex Richards, joined the Northwest Indiana staff and community leaders to commemorate this historic milestone in Pathway history.
Mr. Daniel Franz, Program Director for the Northwest Indiana office, thanked those assembled for the strong monetary community support from the Porter County Commissioners, Porter County Community Foundation, Porter County Substance Abuse Council, Community Action Drug Coalition and the overwhelming support by the Porter County Sheriff’s Department that were the initial catalyst for Pathway to begin operations in June of 2007. He also thanked local businesses and their management for the donation of materials, time and expertise in the construction of the new offices, as well as Kramer & Leonard Office Products for a generous donation of furniture.
Pathway Family Center is a substance abuse treatment center for adolescents ages 10 to 21, providing drug screening, substance abuse assessment and referral, and a unique long-term treatment program. Pathway is a family-centered facility that focuses on teaching coping strategies, life skills and strengthening both individual and family relationships. Its’ dedicated staff of professionals are experts in substance abuse and behavioral problems. Pathway’s strategically located centers serve families in the Midwest with locations in Chesterton and Indianapolis Indiana; Detroit, Michigan; and Cincinnati, Ohio.
To learn more about their newest site please contact them at 219-926-2583 for more information, also feel free to visit their website at www.pathwayfamilycenter.org.
Pathway's Dr. Kutinsky Featured in Jewish News
Medical Director for Pathway Family Center, Dr. Jay Kutinsky, was featured in Detroit Jewish News Online. Dr. Kutinsky discusses the denial of the Jewish community's involvment with addiction and alcoholism.
Accomplishments in Pathway's History
~ In 2002 Pathway Family Center received the "Families Count" award from teh Anna B Casey Foundation. Pathway was one of ten organizations recognized for our outstanding work in making families stronger.
~ Drug Strategies, a national research institute promoting effective approaches to th enation's teen drug problem, (Washington D.C.) recognized Pathway Family Center as one of only 144 adolescent drug treatment programs in the country that met their definition of "what works in adolescent drug treatment".Pathway is the only program in Michigan, and one of two programs in Indiana, identified as meeting the guide's criteria for effective teen treatment.
~ Terri Nissley, CEO & President of Pathway Family Center was featured as one of Florine Mark's Remarkable Woman (Michigan) in April of 2005. She was itnerviewed on WXYZ's Ask Florine television show and Magic- WMGC 105.1.
~ A Pathway graduate client and parent spoke at A Special Town Hall Meeting in August 2004 - Metropolitan Detroit & Southeast Michigan event. The event was sponsored by Partnership for a Drug-Free America. touching on their experiences with drugs and alcohol, the negative effects on their family, their recovery, and the postives of their lives today.
~ Pathway Family Center has partnered with Birmingham-Bloomfield Families in Action (BBFA) by providing speakers at events, information ot the community, and Pathway website link resources about drug and alcohol use among teens and where to get help.
~ Pathway Family Center was invited to participate in the Annual NIPAW - National Inhalant Prevention Coalition Conference in Washington D.C. A pathway client - a 16 year old female who was an inhalant user shared her story about the abuse, destroyed family relationships, and her recovery process at Pathway.
Pathway Family Center has been awarded a Three-year CARF accreditation for our Outpatient Treatment and Therapeutic Community programs. CARF, the Commission of Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities, establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services. As stated by CARF, "Pathway Family Center's practice of treating the family issues surrounding adolscent substance abuse concurrently with the adolescent, with corresponding graduating levels of goal achievement amd progress for the parents, culminates in the provision of a valuable service component. This is an exemplary practice of family inclusion, participation, production, and accomplishment." After compeleting a rigorous peer review process and demonstrating to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality. Stakeholders can be confidant Pathway Family Center has made a commitment to continually enhancing the quality of its services and programs, its focus is on our client satisfaction.
Pathway Awarded Three-Year Accreditation
Michigan Client Participates in National Press Conference Revealing a New Report
Pathway Family Center was selected to participate in a national press conference held May 9th, in Washington DC by the ONDCP, Office of National Drug Control Policy. Director of National Drug Control Policy, John P. Walters discussed the results of the new White House report "Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows 'Self-Medicating' Could Actually Make Things Worse".
The report reveals that marijuana use can worsen depression and lead to more serious mental health disorders and even suicide. Further, research shows that two million teens felt depressed at some point during the past year, and depressed teens are more than twice as likely as non-depressed teens to have used illicit drugs and more that twice as likely as their peers to abuse or become dependent on marijuana. Click here to read the report
Sonia L., a Pathway Family Center client spoke at the event and conducted media interviews. Her mother and Pathway Staff also accompanied her.
Below are links to the Media stories:
