Substance abuse program honored

The Ventura County Behavioral Health Department, a division of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, was selected to receive the inaugural Science and Service Award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They were honored specifically for the Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment program launched in 2005.

Nationwide there exists a gap between the need for substance abuse and mental health services and the availability of accessible treatment options.

The administration developed a "Toolkit" to describe the components of an evidencedbased treatment program for individuals with cooccurring severe mental illness and substance abuse.

The program has resulted in positive outcomes such as reduction in severity of psychiatric symptoms, abstinence from abusive substances and successful completion of treatment.

"This is significant because it demonstrates the Behavioral Health Department's commitment to quality, to providing treatment that has data behind it, treatment that we know is effective for our clients," said Behavioral Health director Meloney Roy.