It could have been any graduation — nine people in caps and gowns assembled in a line, “Pomp and Circumstance” playing over the loudspeaker.
But this ceremony was different. The men and women, who ranged in age from their 20s to their 50s, were gathered to celebrate the completion of the Life House University program and their journey to sobriety. Hundreds of family and community members assembled at the Church International in St. Amant, Louisiana, to cheer them on.
Life House was launched almost three decades ago by a pastor, Mark Stermer. He was mentoring men who were in prison and was frustrated by the frequency with which they kept coming back. They might get clean in prison or enter a treatment facility when they were released, but soon enough they were back in the throes of addiction, seemingly unable to break free.
The more he looked at the treatment system they were entering, the more obvious the problems became. Money — who got paid and how — was a big factor. The 30-day treatment programs seemed to do very little, but even longer-term programs didn’t seem to put people on a path to stability or connection or sobriety.
If anything, the problem has only become worse. As a recent investigation by The Wall Street Journal noted, “Fraud has become a multimillion-dollar problem in America’s booming rehab industry, according to state officials, lawsuits filed by insurers and former clients, and federal indictments and convictions.”
Court documents allege that “rehabs can charge insurance hundreds of thousands of dollars for a few months’ stay, but offer little in the way of treatment. When the money runs out, they kick the patients out without support or referrals, regardless of whether or not they’ve recovered — a practice known as ‘patient dumping’ or ‘curbing.’”
The men and women who enter Life House have been to these other programs. And they know Life House does not offer a quick fix. There is no fee to enter the program. But they will have almost no access to money for the first six months they are there. They will be set up with jobs in the community — at local lumber yards or McDonald’s — and the salaries they earn will go toward paying for their housing and treatment.
At the beginning, they live in a dormitory with a dozen other people. They have limited access to their phones. Everyone has to serve at the church or in some kind of ministry. They are on a strict schedule — morning prayers, breakfast, work, group meetings, individual counseling, parenting classes, and so on. At the women’s dorm I visited there is a board with chores listed for each resident.
The success of Life House speaks for itself. There is usually a waiting list of 40 or 50 people to enter the program, which currently has capacity for about 300. (There is another campus in Alabama.) One of the primary motivations is not just job training (they teach welding, for instance) and employment, but also family reunification. Many of the women in the program have had their children removed from their home by the state.
Unlike many drug treatment programs for mothers, Life House does not allow the women to live with their children for the first phase of the program. They are told that they need to fix their own lives before they can properly care for someone else. If their children are in state custody, parents need to put off any reunification for at least six months and if not, they must leave their children in the care of a relative or friend while they work on their sobriety. They are also not allowed to have any romantic relationships while they are in the program.
Kate, who graduated a couple of years ago and now coaches the residents, had three kids with her ex. They were both addicts. He overdosed and died, which left her in a deep depression. That’s when she got together with her dealer and became pregnant with twins. They were born with meth and marijuana in their systems and were removed to a foster home. She and her boyfriend got in trouble with the law. She went to a rehab center when she got out of jail and that’s when she found out about Life House.
At first, she says, “I wanted my kids back immediately. And I think that’s hard for a lot of women that come here — they need to understand that’s something they need to let go of right now and work on yourself. There’s a time for them to come back. But I did have visits; I went to every single visit. I never missed a beat. I got them back two years later.”
The program has a very good relationship with state caseworkers — coordinators make sure they go to every court date and facilitate visits with the kids, and they boast a 97% reunification rate for mothers and children. And the success is not just with mothers. Many of the fathers have lost custody of their children or not seen them for years.
Jay, another graduate of the program whose younger son was removed by DCFS, tells me that it was a sacrifice to be away from his girlfriend and his kids when he began the program. Now he tells the men that he works with at Life House, “Dude, you got to separate in order to grow together.”
Jeffery Robert, the CEO of the organization, says that the men he has encountered at Life House “struggle with their not being the man of the home, not being able to provide for their families.”
So when they finally decide to get clean, they want to be reunified with their children immediately: “I need to get back out there and I need to get a job. I need to start making money.”
He tells them they need to slow down. “To make sure that you have that foundation and you’re ready to be in their life. Because what can be more detrimental than to get back into their life and do the same cycle over again? And to watch the pain and heartache of the children?”
Being able to earn a living and provide for their families is one of the motivations that these men have for getting off drugs. “Before I had a steady job, before I came to Life House,” Jay told me, “I wasn’t personally able to support my children.” His mom would buy them things instead, and say the gifts were from him. Now, Jay says, “I’m able to buy their needs and their wants, which is really gratifying for me.”
There is a careful balance between making sure that addicts are getting their lives back together and that their relationships with friends and family are repaired. Critics might say that separating a mother from her child will only lead to greater loneliness and depression. But caring for children is an enormous responsibility that can put parents — and children — on an emotional roller coaster. Life House seems to have the formula figured out.