SOUTHFIELD CENTER TO HELP TEENS WITH ADDICTION CLOSES

A Southfield substance-abuse center for teens has closed after 16
years because of the economic downturn, leaving roughly 20 staffers
without jobs and dozens of young addicts without treatment.

Pathway Family Center, 23100 Providence, closed Jan. 23, a couple of
months after the nonprofit group's facility in Milford, Ohio, was
shuttered, spokeswoman Laurie Franke-Polz said Thursday.

Pathway's two other sites, in Porter, Ind., and Indianapolis, remain open.

"It was closed because of the economic conditions, so we'll be
keeping very close tabs," she said. "We're hoping the economy will
turn, so we can reopen."

She explained that Pathway, a residential program that places teens
who have alcohol and drug addictions with host families, saw a
decrease in the number of clients. Normally, the center aids 40 to
50 families at a time with treatments typically lasting six to nine
months, stays which insurance companies tend to partly cover.

"We're working with families very closely," Franke-Polz said. "There
will be a clinical plan of care.

"Some of them, we'll set them up with other facilities, so their
care will continue, and some will transfer to our Indianapolis site."

But for those whom the substance-abuse center helped -- like Hugh
Bowman, whose son graduated from the program in 1995 and his
daughter-in-law a few years later -- closing the Southfield site is
disappointing.

"I'm sad to see it go because I know a lot of good things have
happened through Pathway," the 67-year-old Westland resident said
Thursday. "It's to be expected because Michigan is hit so hard."