Substance abuse costs the United States over $600 billion annually and treatment can help reduce these costs, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

“Treatment is more affordable than ever before,” said Cary Quashen from Action Family Counseling in Santa Clarita.

The average cost for one full year of methadone maintenance treatment is approximately $4,700 per patient, whereas one full year of imprisonment costs approximately $24,000 per person, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

The money spent on drug treatment can save an addicts life, but it can also help society as a whole.

Drug addiction treatment reduces drug use and its associated health and social costs, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. According to several conservative estimates, every dollar invested in addiction treatment programs yields a return of between $4 and $7 in reduced drug-related crime, criminal justice costs, and theft.

When savings related to health care are included, total savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12 to 1, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Major savings to the individual and to society also stem from fewer interpersonal conflicts; greater workplace productivity; and fewer drug-related accidents, including overdoses and deaths.

Action Family Counseling is contracted by almost all of the major insurance companies and they work with families and county programs to find people the help they need, Quashen said.

“We always have a free bed for someone in Santa Clarita that needs help, but if we are full or can’t help them for some reason, we will sometimes refer them out to another program,” Quashen said.

“We will find help for anyone who is serious about getting it,” Quashen said.

About Action Family Counseling

Action Family Counseling has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru, and Bakersfield; Intensive Drug and Alcohol Outpatient in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena, and Bakersfield, Action Family Counseling is here to help you.

Action Family Counseling’s primary goals are to maintain abstinence, stabilize co-occurring illnesses, and increase quality of life. We support and reinforce change in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling accomplishes this by providing an effective treatment approach developed by the Department of Health and Human Services that includes a multi-disciplinarian personalized approach by a treatment team. Once a patient is identified, we provide an initial screening and assessment, which allows us to properly diagnose and place patients in the appropriate treatment setting.

Once a patient completes our intake process to our residential program he or she receives 24-hour crisis management, individual counseling, group therapy, family education and counseling, treatment planning, routine and random toxicology screening, pharmacotherapy and medication management, education about Alcohol and Other Drugs and mental health issues, self-help and support group orientation, case management services, and discharge service planning with a transitional service plan to our Intensive Outpatient treatment program to ensure a continuum of care.

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