Elevate Addiction Services (“EAS”) is a substance use and addiction treatment program located in Northern California. There are multiple facilities owned by EAS, the largest of which is called Seascape Recovery Center at 262 Gaffey Road Watsonville, CA 95076. Seascape offers substance use treatment across multiple levels of care: sub-acute detox, residential treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and routine outpatient.
The current mission of EAS is driven by drug and alcohol addiction recovery and states: “…Our energy is dedicated to transforming the despair of addiction into a purposeful life of confidence, self-respect and happiness, which will positively affect families, communities and society. We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful.”
Seascape offers a variety of treatment options depending on the severity and needs of the individual client. These needs determine the appropriate intensity of treatment and level of care which include detox, residential, partial-hospitalization, and intensive outpatient. Across these levels of care, the facility can serve 74 clients at any given time. There are currently 94 employees on payroll, the majority of which are direct practice staff members consisting of counselors, AOD technicians, therapists, social workers, and support staff.
EAS is a private for-profit agency whose revenue is generated largely by private insurances and reimbursement. The exception of Medicaid and other state insurances limits the ability of the program to reach a large segment of society’s vulnerable populations. As a result, many of the clients who do present to EAS have, or are connected to, financially supportive resources (i.e., an employer that provides health insurance coverage or parents who have private health coverage). However, given the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (which mandated insurance companies to cover mental health and substance use services and expanded insurance coverage for most Americans), individuals of all social strata have received services by EAS.
EAS is considered a social service organization in that it serves “a broad cross section of the population that reflect the diversity of human interests and the full scope of community life” (Brueggemann, 2014, p. 303). The organization presents itself as a secular alternative to the often “faith-based” and 12-step oriented recovery communities.
EAS primarily serves individuals who struggle with substance use disorders. The effects of a substance use disorder extend well beyond the diagnosed individual. It impacts families, communities, and broader society. Substance use disorders are associated with other social problems such as homelessness, incarceration, transmission of HIV, decreased employment, and criminal justice involvement (Daley, 2013). On a macro scale, these issues also translate to economic burdens for governments. Amid an existing crisis regarding a global pandemic, the United States has also seen an increase in drug overdose deaths. This is part of a larger trend which has impacted the United States’ average life expectancy. Death rates and other negative outcomes associated with substance use disorders are disheartening. However, this reality legitimates the role and importance of organizations such as EAS.
References
Brueggemann, W. G. (2014). The practice of macro social work. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Daley D. C. (2013). Family and social aspects of substance use disorders and treatment. Journal of food and drug analysis, 21(4), S73–S76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfda.2013.09.038
Ivan Carnice 