• Individual charts are kept on each client, showing complete history (via the Addiction Severity Index). Charts contain initial assessment and diagnosis, individual treatment plans, progress notes, discharge summaries, and continuing care plans, as well as any referral to community resources.  If clients relapse and choose to seek treatment with us again we are able, at a glance, to evaluate our effectiveness for them.  We examine when they came to us last time and determine if we are an appropriate placement or if they should be referred to another organization.

• Daily Quality Assurance Quality Improvement lunches provide a time for all staff to participate in utilization reviews, which deal with specific client progress and response to treatment, and continued appropriateness for treatment.  The lunch meetings also are a time to evaluate the physical plant and administrative practices for any chinks in the armor.  Every six weeks a more extended version of this meeting takes place with committee members from all areas of the programs meeting to evaluate the effectiveness of our policies and procedures.

• Our program furnishes basic data on each client monthly by computer to the Office of Alcohol & Drug Abuse programs.  This information includes age, sex, educational/marital status, referral source, employment, drug of choice, prior treatment, race, ethnicity, and if client needed treatment or detoxification. We also provide discharge data, which includes, reason for discharge, living arrangement, and employment.  This information is then forwarded to the federal level to help evaluate who is seeking treatment throughout the United States.  At the state level this information is used for evaluating what programs need to be funded and who needs to be priority for help. As the United Way has critical need areas so does the state.

• Annual site visits/evaluations are performed by the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs who provide us with substantial funding, a representative from Labor & Industry for our licensing with the Vermont Department of Aging and Disabilities, a representative from United States Federal Probation which is also a funding source, and a fire marshal to ensure the safety of our facilities. If these evaluations find deficits with the effectiveness of our program they are corrected within a minimal period of time.  To our knowledge we were the only agency to receive an evaluation from the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs that required no corrective action for FY 2007.

• In addition to the site visits we also have an annual audit performed by Siliski & Buzzell CPAs in order to evaluate and ensure the effectiveness and appropriateness of all our business practices.

• In May of 2008 The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission, also known as CARF, surveyed our effectiveness per their standards.   CARF holds treatment centers to the highest standards, which are outlined in their most recent 340 page standards manual.  We passed our survey with flying colors and received another three year accreditation which is the highest possible accreditation.

• The Board of Directors meets monthly to evaluate the financial, program and staffing areas of Recovery House. Annual as well as quarterly program goals are reviewed and assessed for effectiveness in meeting said goals.

• For programming evaluation we rely highly on our outcomes system to supply us with information around our effectiveness to our consumers.  Our outcomes collection begins when a client is admitted to treatment.  Upon admission clients are asked a set of questions directly related to our program goals.  Which are subsequently compared to their follow-up surveys.  Three follow-up surveys are mailed out to clients following treatment.  One is mailed at 30 days, 60 days and 90 days post treatment. In addition to these surveys clients are asked to fill out a satisfaction survey when they finish their treatment.  Through this three tiered system we are able to collect invaluable feedback about our program from those who are really effected by it.

Recovery House, Inc., 98 Church St., Wallingford, VT 05773  Tel. 802.446.2640