“The dream was not
only to support each other’s sobriety, but also to reach out to help
others wanting to stop drinking. The dream would provide a new alternative
to sobering up in the local jail cell, on a unit of a State mental health
facility or at the closest formal detoxification center at Manteno Mental
Health Center.”
In October 1967, the founders’ dream became a
reality when one of the recovering alcoholics donated $25 for the formal
incorporation of The South Suburban Council on Alcoholism (The Council).
Newly incorporated, the founders established the agency’s first official
location in the Red Cross building in Harvey, Illinois. Their
mission then, as it remains today, was to serve those in need regardless
of their financial situation.
Its existence was maintained through donations from
its founders and volunteers who performed numerous tasks including
transporting patients to Manteno Mental Health Center for treatment.
The operations during the early months of The Council
were characterized by numerous calls from alcoholics and their families
reaching out for help. Family members were referred to Alanon.
Locals Alanon groups, which were rare, began to grow in membership.
During this period, The Star Newspaper made an
in-kind contribution. The Star ran ads inviting readers who had
alcohol problems or their family members to call The Council for
assistance. These ads ran for five years.
In the early 1970s, The Council experienced the first
of many opportunities for growth when the Illinois Department of Mental
Health granted the agency its first grant-in-aid contract. By 1973, the
State’s funding broadened The Council’s information and referral
service through a grant-in-aid contract for outpatient counseling.
One year prior, the agency had relocated to Chicago Heights and Joliet.
By this time, its staff included four full-time and one part-time
employees. With a staff of five counselors, 1974 marked the addition
of group counseling to The Council’s clinical array of services.
By 1975, The Council employed seven staff and moved
to Park Forest. With a budget of just over $100,000, The Council
also appointed its first Medial Director.
The first of many program expansions resulted from a
statewide initiative to decriminalize alcoholism and recognize it as a
treatable disease. In 1976, the State of Illinois passed the
Alcoholism and Intoxication Treatment Act.
The Council would experience increased demand for
outpatient services. With increased funding from the Department of
Mental Health, The Council hired a Youth Program Director who began
reaching out and serving the area’s adolescents who were experiencing
problems because of their use of alcohol. Through this leadership,
The Council’s Youth Outpatient Program grew. Through this program,
a new sense of awareness began throughout the South Suburbs in recognizing
the alcoholism prevention and treatment needs of area youth.
Consistent with the State’s initiative to
de-institutionalize individuals utilizing State operated mental health
centers, a movement began to enhance community services, particularly for
alcoholics. With the closing of Manteno’s Silvis Grove alcoholism
treatment programs, State funds were awarded to The Council to establish
an eight-bed social setting detoxification program. This program
became operational in May 1978 and was housed in a rented section of Mercy
Health Care Center in Homewood.
In 1979, The Department of Mental Health once again
looked to The Council and awarded funding for an eight-bed, 28-day
alcoholism residential treatment program. Soon after this program
became operational in Homewood, it was relocated to a section of the Esma
Wright Nursing Home in Robbins.
By October 1981, The Council was providing 20
residential treatment beds and 12 detoxification treatment beds. At
this time, residential services were provided to women as well as men.
Various programs were spread among Park Forest, Homewood and Robbins.
In 1982, The Council began providing intensive
outpatient services. With the implementation of this new program,
The Council became one of the first alcoholism treatment centers to offer
a less restrictive alternative to residential treatment while providing a
greater degree of structure than traditional outpatient treatment.
Needing additional nursing home space, Mercy Health
Care Center asked that the Detox Program be relocated. While the
Detox Program was temporarily housed in a building on the grounds of
Tinley Park Mental Health Center, the Board of Directors began searching
for a new location. In 1984, The Council established a related
organization, the South Suburban Foundation, which purchased the Chek Inn
Hotel in East Hazel Crest from Marathon Oil Company. The Council’s
new home centralized the agency’s many programs.
In 1984, Illinois combined the administration of
State alcohol and drug treatment by creating the Department of Alcoholism
and Substance Abuse. By the mid-1980s, The Council was serving individuals
with alcoholism as well as other drug addictions. To reflect this
practice, The Council’s name was revised in 1987 to The South Suburban
Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.
With the financial support of the State, The Council
expanded its array of services. To meet the increasing demand for
serving adolescents, a 12-bed Youth Residential Rehabilitation Program was
established in 1989. Medicaid reimbursement changes would eventually
force reductions in staffing expenses and the closing of this program
after only two years.
Soon after, however, The Council was awarded
additional funding through a special federal “Waiting List Reduction
Initiative,” to increase the size of its residential programs.
In 1991, Allen Sandusky was appointed The Council’s
President and Chief Executive Officer. Entering a new era of managed
behavioral care and limited governmental support, The Council began
positioning itself for stability within an ever-evolving and changing
healthcare landscape. In order to maintain its important service
niche, The Council adjusted administratively and clinically to funding and
service demand changes. Among administrative changes was the
formation of The Council Property Holding Corporation, a related
organization holding title to property for use by The South Suburban
Council. The South Suburban Foundation
began focusing its activities on raising funds to support the work of The
Council.
Among the clinical enhancements was renewed focus on
serving the substance abuse treatment needs of women. This was an
expansion upon gender-specific programming that began in 1990. After
closing the Youth Residential Rehabilitation Program in 1991, The Council
reorganized its detox and residential rehabilitation programs to react to
a loss of State Medicaid funding. The resulting residential
reorganization, which occurred in 1992, established a 40-bed men’s
program (16 detox and 24 rehab beds) and 32-bed women’s program (16
detox and 16 rehab beds).
In 1993, an outpatient satellite program was
established in Orland Park. The following year, HIV and tuberculosis
testing and counseling services were initiated. In addition, an
“Alternative to Suspension Program” for area middle and secondary
schools was established and operated in space provided by
Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
To better respond to the needs of individuals,
families and referral sources seeking The Council’s assistance, a
centralized intake and assessment function was established in 1995.
That same year, an HIV/AIDS Case Management Program was developed to help
infected substance abusers.
Again in response to changing and restrictive State
funding and reimbursements, The Council reorganized residential
operations. This reorganization progressively combined the detox and
rehabilitation service within a residential program. This treatment
programming model allowed for a transitioning care and intensity of
treatment based criteria established by the American Society of Addictive
Medicine (ASAM). Specifically, residential programming was organized
under a 42-bed Men’s Rehabilitation Program, a 16-bed Women’s
Rehabilitation Program and a 16-bed Addicted Mothers’ Rehabilitation
Program.
In 1996, a positive parenting and child safety
program was offered to women in both residential and outpatient programs.
The Council also incorporated new ASAM revisions into its clinical
programs. Although continuing as a non-medical facility, The Council
enhanced its medical support by providing physical exams for its patients.
Services were further enhanced in 1996 to meet the
needs of patients with co-existing situations to their chemical
dependency. Among these groups are those involved with the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services, individuals involved with the
criminal justice system and those suffering from mental illnesses.
In July 1997, the Illinois Department of Human
Services was formed. Its goal is to progressively administer various
state operations as well as enhance publicly supported services to a broad
array of Illinois citizens with special needs. This major
infrastructure change occurs at the same time The Council and other
organizations combine efforts through closer associations and affiliations
to better serve the behavioral treatment needs of communities
By the end of Fiscal Year 1999, The Council had
achieved accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations. It endures as a leader in substance abuse
treatment services for residents of the South Suburbs and surrounding
communities. With a budget of over $6 million, The Council serves
nearly 3,000 clients annually through its broad and comprehensive array of
programs.
As a new century
approaches, The Council will evolve, grow and change to meet the needs of
those needing its services. This evolution will continue while The
South Suburban Council holds firm to its charitable mission and its
support of the disease model of chemical dependency. The Council
will also maintain its belief in the philosophy and practice of the 12
steps of Alcoholics Anonymous as a necessary element for sustained
recovery.
