After more than 15 years working closely with social services we thought we had seen it all. But every now and then we’re surprised by the creativity and dedication of social work professionals. Last week I connected with a friend who told me that he had taken a new position in a recovery high school.
“A recovery high school,” I asked. “What is a recovery high school?”
He said, “Recovery high schools emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a response to kids coming out of treatment centers for substance use disorders. When kids came out of treatment and returned to their old high schools the relapse rate was 65% to 80% in the first 3 months. Students report that their home school is where they found most of their drugs in the first place. Many of the communities that started recovery high schools were prompted to create them because of student deaths."
He went on to say, "Recovery high schools give students the opportunity to finish high school in a positive environment where each of the students and their families share in the goals of living a recovery lifestyle.”
“Why have I never heard of these schools?” I asked. “Are there a lot of them?”
“There are 35 in the United States. They vary in size from a school in Houston that has 111 students to University High School that opened in August of 2014 with only 10-12 students. The average recovery high school size is about 30 students.”
“Are these all public schools?” I asked.
“No. There is a mixture of public charter schools, private schools, and alternative schools. Each community utilizes the structure that works best for them. What is consistent across these various forms, however, is that they are all positive recovery environments that are focused on academics.
If a student relapses, for example, and they do, they have a whole class of fellow students they can talk to. The recovery school not only helps the students stay clean and sober but also offers support if they do relapse. At a traditional school nobody would know or care that a student had used,” he said.
“A recovery high school is such a rational response to teen addiction; why are there only 35?"
He answered, “There are some drawbacks. Recovery high schools so far tend to be small. This can be an advantage and a limitation. The small size contributes to a cohesive feeling that helps the students support one another. Some people, however, are not comfortable in such a tight environment.
These schools also offer little diversity. Most recovery high schools trend to upper income and primarily Caucasian student populations.
Finally, there is still a stigma around addiction and recovery that prevents the idea from entering the main stream.”
I continued chatting with my friend for half an hour about his new career as both teacher and counselor in a recovery high school. I am still shocked that I did not know about these schools and that they have not proliferated faster.
The dedication to service that I could hear in his voice reminded me of another friend I know, the founder and Executive Director of Abba House, Jim Sharp who works in addiction and recovery in my town. The dedication Jim and other social workers demonstrate could work miracles if we all could bring ourselves to pay closer attention to student addiction and their "road to recovery."
