Hazelden planning $30 million expansion at its center for teens

Concerned by shifting patterns of teen drug abuse and a shortage of treatment options for young addicts, the Hazelden Foundation is planning a $30 million expansion of its Center for Youth and Families in Plymouth.

The campus will target untreated abusers, provide mental health care that is overlooked at many addiction centers, and eliminate a bed shortage that frustrates people just when they are ready to accept treatment, said Jim Steinhagen, the center's executive director.

"With addiction, you really need to strike while the iron is hot," Steinhagen said. "It's not something where you can wait six weeks until a bed will open up." He said about 93 percent of abusers refrain from treatment.

The Minnesota Student Survey and other measures indicate a modest reduction in drug and alcohol use by teens over the past decade, although marijuana use has remained constant. Even so, the pathway to addiction has changed for the worse, Steinhagen said. Years ago, many first-time drug users smoked marijuana, but now the first drugs of choice are addictive painkillers or stimulants found in their parents' medicine closets, he said.

"While there might not be more addicts," he said, "the type of addictions that might be occurring and the kinds of drugs and the way the kids are using them are really facilitating a more rapid ... downward spiral."

The proposed expansion is to be discussed by Plymouth's planning commission Sept. 21. Plans call for the addition of a 32-bed unit for female patients, improved facilities for parents participating in their children's treatment, and a variety of step-down programs to help abusers ages 14 to 25 stay sober as they make the transition home.

The center's heightened focus on mental disorders is significant, said Dr. Joseph Lee, a child psychiatrist and medical director for the center. Some patients are misdiagnosed with depression that is actually drug use. Others have depression and self-medicate with illegal drugs. Lee said the center examines family history and uses other approaches to accurately diagnose a patient's situation and then treat both disorders when appropriate.

New standards

Such dual disorder treatment is gaining recognition in Minnesota. The state Department of Human Services has awarded federal training grants so counselors can learn proven methods of treating both problems at once in adults.

The Legislature also approved a bill this session requiring the state to keep a public "Good Housekeeping" list of programs that meet federal standards for adult dual-disorder treatment, said Sue Abderholden of the state chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

State officials will be exploring whether standards for youth dual-disorder treatment can be set, as well.

Abderholden said standards are an important way to differentiate between true dual-disorder treatment and programs that like to promote themselves by using the "buzzword."

Hazelden officials are mindful of struggles by other treatment centers to expand or build facilities. An attempt by the Emily Program to open a residential eating disorder treatment center in Orono was defeated last year by neighborhood opposition.

In Hazelden's case, the youth center is buffered by Medicine Lake and French Regional Park, but sits across a street from residential neighborhoods. Center leaders are conducting traffic studies and answering questions about security risks. The unlocked facility screens patients for their runaway risks before accepting them.

"There's such a demand" for treatment, Lee said. "We have to do something."