OUTREACH: Program makes difference
OUTREACH: Program makes difference
By Bryan Dean
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Published: July 29, 2008
Chase Morgan knew he had a substance abuse problem the morning he woke up choking on his own vomit, his mother crying as she tried to turn him over so he wouldn't drown in his own fluids.
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Oklahoma Outreach
Jul 24Kelly Fry talks to Mike Boss with Oklahoma Outreach and Chase...
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Chase Morgan, right, and Mike Boss talk about various treatment programs available for teenagers with substance abuse problems. Morgan said an in-patient program founded by Boss saved his life.
THE OKLAHOMAN
"That's when I knew, 16-year-olds don't do this,” said Morgan, now 19. "I felt like a ghost. I knew I had a problem, but I wasn't sure what I was going to do about it.”
Luckily for Morgan, who grew up in
Oklahoma City and now lives in Mustang, his mother had a plan.
She and a counselor staged an intervention and sent Morgan to
Hazel Street Recovery Center, an in-patient treatment center for teenagers in
Texarkana,
Texas. The program is one piece of a treatment puzzle that
Mike Boss hopes is making a difference.
Boss is the co-founder of Oklahoma Outreach, an outpatient treatment program for drug and alcohol-addicted youths.
Boss decided he wanted to be an addiction counselor after recovering from his own addictions in 1983.
"I was the same maniac these kids were when I was young,” Boss said.
Through his work with Oklahoma Outreach, Boss discovered the need for a comprehensive inpatient treatment in Oklahoma.
"I was sending kids to 30-day treatment programs, most of which were out of state,” Boss said. "I realized that just wasn't a long enough stay for a young person to get their needs met in treatment.”
His answer was Hazel Street, for boys, and Four Winds Ranch, for girls, in Guthrie. The minimum stay at the centers is three months, with many attending six to eight months.
Morgan said his mom tried getting him outpatient counseling, but he found loopholes.
"I managed to get around the drug testing doing whatever I could do,” Morgan said.
At Hazel Street, there was no way around confronting his problem. Morgan said he had a "moment of clarity” where he realized he belonged in the program and was meant to turn his life around.
After a five-month stay at Hazel Street, he did just that.
Boss said there is a stunning lack of inpatient treatment for teens, and in particular for those who come from poor families.
"Even though we are one of the more affordable treatment centers in the country, it's still expensive,” Boss said.
Inpatient treatment at Hazel Street or Four Winds Ranch runs $200 to $275 a day. With a minimum stay of three months, the cost can run $18,000 to nearly $25,000.
Boss said many inpatient programs across the country run $500 a day. Many health care plans cover drug treatment, but those without insurance or the means to get a student loan for their children have few options.
An offshoot of Oklahoma Outreach, the nonprofit
Oklahoma Outreach Foundation, is trying to help.
Boss' goal is to help every child who needs it.
Looking back at the last night he took a drink, Chase said he'd likely be dead if he hadn't gotten that help.
"Every time I think about that night, it just leaves me thinking how grateful I am to be alive now and be sober,” Morgan said.
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Linda Morgan