Joseph S. Batluck Sr. assumed leadership of Teen Challenge USA in the fall of 2015 and is available to discuss the addiction issues facing America and the church today as well as his vision and strategies for Teen Challenge. This 58-year ministry is on the front lines of substance abuse prevention and addiction recovery in America and around the world and has the highest addiction recovery success rate in the nation.
Vision:
Teen Challenge is the leader in recovery with the highest success rate in the field of addiction recovery. We are expanding the services offered to include: non-residential-community based programs called LifeLine, training for inmates in state and federal prisons; additional mothers-and-children centers; expanded re-entry training; out-patient counseling and violence in the workplace training. Teen Challenge works closely with government officials to offer recovery assistance in lieu of incarceration. Stay Sharp programs are available for middle and high school students focus on abstinence from drugs, violence, alcohol and premarital sex.
The Epidemic:
- 14 million Americans use illegal drugs and 17 million Americans are alcoholics or abusers of alcohol.
- 31 million Americans abuse chemicals daily (ages 12+).
- 11,000 try alcohol for the first time.
- 6,500 try marijuana for the first time.
- 2,900 try crack cocaine for the first time.
- 1,000 try heroin for the first time.
- All the above use alcohol.
- The 3 leading causes of death for 15- to 24-year-olds are car crashes, homicides and suicides. Alcohol is the leading factor in all three.
- 74 percent or more of state prison inmates committed in 2015 had drug or alcohol addiction issues.
- There is a drug-induced death in the U.S. every 13 minutes.
- 8.3 million youth (1 in 8 or 11.9 percent) under 18 years of age live with at least one parent who is addicted to alcohol or illicit drugs.
- The economic cost of drug abuse in the U.S. was estimated at $193 billion in 2007.
- After alcohol, marijuana has the highest rate of dependence or abuse among all drugs.
- According to NIDA only 11.2 percent of addicts needed treatment entered a program in 2012.
- The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that treatment programs shorter than 90 days long are ineffective. Teen Challenge programs are 12 or more months and have the highest success rate in the field of recovery.
*Statistics provided by the Office of the National Drug Control Policy & the National Institute on Drug Abuse
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