Road Recovery's 2012 RoadTrax Program
Involving: (36) program participants (ages: 14-18 years)
"Throughout my twenty-five years in education, I have viewed numerous school assemblies and presentations intended to motivate adolescents to make good decisions. A few of the better ones even have urged teens to reach out for help when faced with struggles. None have come close to delivering the message the way the young participants of Road Recovery have delivered it here in Warwick Valley High School. It is a message framed with honesty, integrity, and love. Most importantly, as a school instructional leader I clearly recognize the powerful connection Road Recovery outreach programs have consistently made between performance venue and curricular activities in the classroom. To any school leaders wishing to develop strong character education programs, consider placing Road Recovery at the core of your efforts. Your students will thank you."
Richard Linkens, Principal
Warwick Valley High School, Warwick, New York
January 17, 2006 – New Program Yields Important Findings for Helping Kids Stay Sober Longer The Caron Treatment Centers ‘Field Study’ of Road Recovery’s RecoveryTrax Program is longitudinally implemented over a fourteen (14) month period starting November 2004 through December 2005. Staff collected data by recording 21 subjects (program participants) by age, gender, length of participation in the program, reported abstinence time at baseline, as well as any reported incidents of interruption of the abstinence and reasons for leaving the program. The data represents a full (non-randomized) sample of subjects: every participant who has enrolled was a subject on whom data was collected.
Although this is a small sample size, the early measurements indicate the majority of subjects (13 out of 21) participating in the Program at baseline remained abstinent for the duration of their participation. Furthermore, of those who did relapse, 50% retained participation in the program and 100% were able to arrest relapse within a 24-48 hour timeline. Also of note is the reported finding that 100% of the subjects who relapsed addressed the relapse incident with 50% leaving the program for an alternate level of care. So while the subject(s) may have had to leave, the most important element is the fact that the kids continued with some type of aftercare treatment.
- According to Dr. Thomas McClellan*, Executive Director, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Treatment Research Institute (TRI).
I examined the results of your preliminary examination of Road Recovery’s program and from my inspection of the data found that of the 21 participants studied, 13 (62%) maintained total abstinence while participating on average about 9 months in the program; while 8 other patients had at least one period of relapse during their treatment, half of them contained their relapse to less than 48 hours and remained active participants in the program. The remaining 4 participants (19%) had extended periods of relapse and were referred to an alternate level of care subsequently leaving the program. Although this was not a formal evaluation and it was not a large group, these preliminary results are encouraging. First, because the kids seemed to like the program and wanted to be part of it - so many programs are based on a "no pain - no gain" model. I think it is a good sign that you have something that these kids want to be part of. I also found the very preliminary results encouraging, especially the findings from those who lapsed. Half of those that lapsed came back to the program immediately and became full participants. In my experience, that is an unusual situation in most of the programs that I have seen.
It is extremely important to note that for those participants who did experience relapse, ALL the participants were back into the mix within a 48-hour period. Such actions are extremely rare for adolescents, which further supports the power of the group and Road Recovery’s program.
Road Recovery’s RecoveryTrax program has truly had an impact on helping adolescents coming out of treatment stay engaged and most importantly stay sober. Road Recovery provides a safe, positive experience, where over the past 24 months, the 12-15 adolescents involved in it have stayed sober. The program really becomes an extended care program for these adolescents and provides them with sobriety rates of on average at least 1 year or greater. Road Recovery’s RecoveryTrax program helps adolescents find and express themselves through music and the arts. Research shows that kids involved with the arts have positive dramatic long-term impacts on them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We believe in Road Recovery because it provides longer-term care for adolescents and their families. It's about changing and saving lives and our experience so far has been terrific. This program is creating a model that no one else in the country has in terms of an engaging after care model that helps keep kids sober.
- David Rotenberg , Executive Director of Adolescent Treatment Services for Caron Treatment Centers.
* A. Thomas McLellan , Ph.D. is a psychologist, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania , and founder and Executive Director of Treatment Research Institute (TRI). He is best known for his leading role in the creation of the Addiction Severity Index and the Treatment Services Review, two of the most widely used instruments in the field of substance abuse. TRI is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing the devastating effects of alcohol and other drug abuse on individuals, families and communities by employing scientific methods and disseminating evidence-based information.
