NORTH SALT LAKE — Sixteen-year-old Lexi Carlton just celebrated five months of sobriety. It's an important milestone for the Spanish Fork teen who was addicted to prescription pain killers and over-the-counter drugs since she was 12.
The reason behind Carlton's turn around had an anniversary of its own over the weekend, when the Life-Line Program marked its 11th year of operation. The center helps teens work through behavioral problems and alcohol and drug abuse. The program had an outdoor party for current and past students in North Salt Lake to give out awards and celebrate the anniversary.
"Parents, out of pure guts, made this thing happen; parents sacrificed their heart and soul," said Vern Utley, program director. "The tradition has continued every year since."
Utley said the program is different than many because it offers long-term support for youth and is also characterized by intense group work and therapy from past graduates of the program. The average time period it takes a child to get through the five-phase program is 9.2 months, Utley said.
"The staff are our age," said Greg Harrie, 18, who originally came in for drug and alcohol abuse. "They know what we're going through."
Harrie has been in the program, which serves kids between 12 and 18 years old, for 250 days. He is currently in Phase 1 of the program, though he has progressed as high as Phase 4 in the past.
The phases are designed to make youth prioritize and abandon old behaviors and bad influences. During the first phase, participants have to live at the homes of others in the program, and from then on, they get more and more privileges back until they're through.
At first, they can't wear their hair down or wear shoes because they are a runaway risk, then as they start attending meetings and making amends with their parents for past actions, they can move back home, listen to music, attend their schools and hang out with sober friends. Eventually they visit the center less and less and then graduate.
Harrie stayed sober but got sent back to Phase 1 because he wasn't being honest with himself or the center's staff, he said.
"People hold you accountable," he said.
"It really gets down to business," added Ryan Bowker, 18, who came to the program from Washington as a result of parole violations. He said it's the only program of four he's tried that has worked for him.
Carlton also got sent back, from Phase 2 to Phase 1 but on Saturday she said she was hopeful she would start back up the ladder.
Students in the program attend school, either by visiting teachers or at a special school, Woodland Hills, and the 58 who are now in the program commute daily with parents from all over the state. Adri Short, 17, used to have a 2.9 GPA when she was at Brighton High School in Sandy, but now she gets all As and Bs, she said.
"It teaches a lot about humility," said Short, whose mother, Vicki Short, serves as a parent leader. "You don't need others to make your self-esteem for you; there are friends I wish I could bring in here."
The program began informally in 1989, Utley said, with only a group of parents trying to straighten out their troubled children. Once the center's mission was formalized in 1990, it got accreditation, a licensed staff and its center in North Salt Lake. It has served as many as 98 kids at one time, Utley said.
"They gave me my daughter back," said Kathleen Anderson, whose daughter Nadine Anderson, now 17, graduated from the program and became a peer counselor.
"It teaches them they're worth it," said Carlton's mother, Ronda Godard. "It's united families again."
E-MAIL: lwhite@desnews.com