One difficult and overlooked area of substance use disorder treatment is transitioning back to living in the world and outside of the cocoon of the treatment facility.

One client said that when the facility decided that she had completed her treatment, i.e., she was past the time that they had allocated for treatment, she was forced out of the treatment facility. This facility did provide her with a list of sober houses that she could move to, but they did not make sure that she was signed up to move into one of them. This facility also provided her with a list of outpatient treatment options. She told me the options mainly comprised of evening meetings in church basements.

At Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, many clients are connected to a mentor. The volunteer mentor program is managed by an MNTC employee, and background checks are completed for every mentor before they are connected to a client. The role of these mentors is to provide an example of what life can be like and how to function in a sober world.

The main drawback to this MNTC program is the limited number of mentors; thus, there are not enough mentors for every graduate. If anyone reading this is interested in becoming a mentor, contact me, and I can connect you with the MNTC volunteer mentor.

Tagged #abuse, #cocaine, #fetanyl, #meth, #methamphetamine, #minnesota adult and teen challenge, #MNTC, #substance abuse, #substance use disorder, #treatment