Family Counseling Center Hires New District Substance Abuse Counselor

By Larissa Lytwyn

The Family Counseling Center, a United Way-affiliate providing mental health services to Danbury area families and individuals, regardless of their ability to pay, is in the process of hiring a new substance abuse counselor for Newtown schools.

“We consider this a very exciting opportunity,” said Terry Blackmer, executive director of the Family Counseling Center.

The substance abuse counselor is expected to begin in conjunction with the start of the 2004-05 school year on August 31. The counselor will be bound by contract to serve for the 2004-05 school year at a salary of $41,500.

The district’s former substance abuse counselor, Pam Crowcroft, had the same $41,500 contract during the 2003-04 school year.

“The new substance abuse counselor will be working primarily at Newtown High School, and, if needed, Newtown Middle School,” said Ms Blackmer.

The counselor will also have office space at the Family Counseling Center.

“The issue of substance abuse has been a pronounced problem in our community,” noted school board member Paul Mangiafico. “It is an issue that we, as a community, have become much more aware of in recent months.”

Mr Mangiafico said he was pleased with the additional resource the Family Counseling Center could provide to children in Newtown schools that are in need.

Ms Blackmer said that the Family Counseling Center serves a broad clientele, from toddlers to centenarians. The center currently has nine fully licensed therapists and a staff that includes a psychiatrist, Dr Brian Abbott. The therapists are supervised by clinical director Kimberly Scott, herself a licensed social worker.

The town of Newtown is a major source of funding for the Family Counseling Center; this year, the town provided the center with approximately $52,000. The center also garners support from individual and business donors, fundraisers, fees for service and, of course, the United Way.

According to the center’s 2003-04 report, approximately 40 percent of the center’s clients have annual household incomes under $13,000. These families pay fees on a sliding scale in accordance to their monetary assets.

“We really emphasize families in our services,” said Ms Blackmer. “A lot of the younger clients we serve are the children of parents who are, say, going through a divorce. We really encourage both parents to be involved in the counseling process because these kinds of issues involve everyone in the family.”

As part of the Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies, the Family Counseling Center, as stipulated by the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut under Public Act 93-319, offers the Parent Education Program. The program is specifically designed for children dealing with various issues relating to parental separation and divorce.

During evening or weekend group meetings totaling six hours, families hear lectures, participate in exercises, and find answers to their questions relating to the broad number of experiences that can become a reality during the often difficult circumstances of divorce.

Some substance abuse issues, Ms Blackmer said, may surface as a “coping” method for teens dealing with tough familial issues, such as divorce. Another issue, Ms Blackmer noted, is alcoholism in parents or other family members.

The district’s substance abuse counselor, she said, could provide families, if they choose, the option of using the Family Counseling Center as a resource for referrals or further therapeutic treatment.

According to the center’s 2003-04 report, the five most common problems the center treats are depression, anxiety, acting out behaviors, risk of family violence, and compulsive behaviors.

“Many of these issues overlap,” said Ms Blackmer, “and virtually all of these issues can involve the issue of substance abuse.”

Many of the calls the center receives, said Ms Blackmer, are from parents concerned about a child exhibiting acting-out behaviors at home or in school. Depression, often linked to anxiety, is common in many teens, she said. Some children face more severe emotional problems.

The center is involved in a program called Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Care (IICAP), a service funded by the Department of Children and Families that helps children, often in their early teens, better function in society.

IICAP was first developed at the Yale Child Study Center in the mid-1990s. The four-month program involves a “team model”; each child is counseled by a licensed clinician and mental health worker.

The Family Counseling Center works with the Danbury Regional Child Advocacy Center on the program.

Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff lauded the advantage of having a substance abuse counselor hired by the Family Counseling Center.

“It will definitely allow families to have greater access to [mental health] services, if they choose,” he said. “Family Counseling Center is definitely a resource.”

For more information on the Family Counseling Center, 121 Mt Pleasant Road, call 426-8103 or visit www.familycounselingcenter.net.