MASS. PLANNING 'SOBRIETY SCHOOLS'

BOSTON -- Massachusetts officials plan to open two sobriety schools within
the next year for recovering student addicts, many of whom are at risk of
relapsing if they stay in their old high school environment. Lt. Gov. Kerry
Healey proposed the plan last week as part of a statewide strategic plan
for preventing and coping with substance abuse among the youth and adults.
It's also an idea that's being pushed by Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Brighton,
the chairman of the Legislature's Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Committee. "It's clear that what we're doing is not working, so we've got
to be innovative and creative," said Tolman, who initially approached
Healey about the sobriety schools. "We need to find ways to have more
support services for people suffering from this dreaded disease. "
Statistics show that between 70 and 90 percent of recovering students
relapse if they return to their home high school. However, those numbers
are reversed when students enter so-called sobriety schools -- regular high
schools where recovering students attend classes without fear of running
into a drug dealer but that also have support services available. The
schools, however, are not treatment centers.

Bleak choices Today, kids who come out of treatment programs have no place
to go outside their old environment, Healey said. Kids either drop out of
school to avoid the peer pressures they faced in school, or they go back to
school and fall into their old behavior.

"The choice is bleak, and it's dooming them to failure," she said. "You
give up on your education or run the risk of being drawn back into the life
of a drug addict." Healey said she'd like to start with two schools -- one
in Springfield and one in Boston -- as pilot programs. If they are
successful, she'd like to add schools in other parts of the state. She said
she hopes that the schools could be opened by January, but that there are
still many details to work out.

The schools would hold about 50 students and would be open to students
throughout the commonwealth.

There are about 25 sobriety or recovery schools today in the country, about
half of which have opened in the past three years, said Andrew Finch,
director of the Tennessee-based Association of Recovery Schools, which
formed in 2002. He said more states are trying the technique because it's
working. Though there have not been any studies done on success rates,
Finch said most schools on average show that 70 percent of students
enrolled remain sober. Finch, who also runs a recovery school in Tennessee,
said the schools are all different but have the same mission of providing a
safe, sober, educational environment for recovering addicts. He said
schools vary in terms of funding, governance and philosophy.

He said the biggest challenges for those looking to open a school are
funding and lack of public understanding and support.

"The expense of a small school with a very specific population is a huge
barrier year after year for every school, and it's a barrier for schools
getting open," Finch said.

Healey envisions the school being set up as a charter school. She said she
doesn't think the schools would require much new funding beyond start-up
costs because the student cost would be covered by the student's home
district. Some schools raise money privately from individuals or seek grant
money from foundations. In Minnesota, 70 percent of Sobriety High's budget
is from public funds. Sobriety High, one of the first recovery schools in
the nation, has three campuses in the state and is often used as a model
for other such schools. Sobriety High Director Jim Czarniecki said his
school focuses on academics, while others have a stronger therapeutic approach.

Sobriety High is not a continuation of treatment for the students, but
provides a support system, he said.

Although it's important to provide a safe environment for students,
Czarniecki said, they shouldn't be isolated from the community, or else
they will have trouble reintegrating after graduation.

Students are required to attend meetings in the community, hook up with a
sponsor in the community and develop a support system outside the school.
"It's not simply about your network of sober friends at school, but
building that network in the recovery community," Czarniecki said. Tolman
said Massachusetts will be looking closely at how Sobriety High operates as
officials move forward in planning the two schools here. He said it is
clear from the statistics that the idea works and believes that it is worth
trying in Massachusetts.

He said the need will only grow in Massachusetts because of what he
described as an epidemic of OxyContin and heroin use in the state. Tolman
said the long-term residential programs are working to help students in the
recovery process, but more is needed to keep them from relapsing. "I see a
major problem out there, and I'm trying to find a solution. And I think
this is a very viable solution -- a piece to the puzzle to help children,"
Tolman said.