September 12, 2006 CONTACT:
HEALEY ANNOUNCES BOSTON'S FIRST RECOVERY HIGH SCHOOL
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey today awarded $2.75 million to establish the first Recovery High School in the City of Boston. The high school will serve approximately 50 students, in grades 9 through 12, who are recovering from substance use disorders and want to complete their education in a safe, supportive and drug-free environment.
Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), one of Boston’s largest non-profit social service agencies, the Cushing House, an adolescent substance abuse provider, and the Boston Public Schools are collaborating to open the recovery school and reverse the trend of high relapse rates that are typical to teens seeking to overcome addiction.
“We know that treatment works, but we also know the kind of pressures these kids can face when they return to school,” said Healey. “By providing a supportive, drug-free environment, we can maximize our investment in treatment and provide these children an opportunity to continue both recovery and education.”
The first recovery schools began in Minnesota in 1989, and over the past 16 years have grown to include ten states and several colleges and universities. The schools have excellent success at keeping kids in recovery and helping them achieve their academic goals.
“These schools are saving kids lives,” said Senator Steven Tolman. “They are an essential part of the continuum of care for adolescents with substance abuse problems and they are working.”
The school will be known as the William J. Ostiguy Recovery High School. It is named after Lieutenant Ostiguy, a Boston Fire Department official and director of the Department’s Employee Assistance Program who has championed the need for recovery schools in the Commonwealth, particularly in Boston.
“This is about giving kids a real chance,” said Ostiguy. “This program will give both students and their families the support they need to maintain their recovery and get themselves and their education back on track.”
The Boston school is expected to open this fall. Officials are in the process of an outreach effort to help identify candidates for admission from both residential and outpatient adolescent treatment providers, public schools, juvenile courts as well as the Department of Youth Services and the Department of Social Services.
“ABCD’s mission has always included assisting young people from low-income, inner-city families – kids who often have a few strikes against them– to get the support and education and skills to make it in this world,” said Robert Coard, President/CEO of Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD). “We applaud the Commonwealth, the City of Boston and the Boston Public Schools for making this opportunity possible for young people with issues related to substance abuse.”
The Commonwealth’s first two recovery high schools, located in Beverly and Springfield, opened last week.
“Binge Spending Days are Over”
by Mitt Romney
“When I took office, the Massachusetts economy was down. My team and I went to work to find ways to economize and to eliminate duplication and waste. We cut back on ‘nice to have’ spending that we just couldn’t afford.”
“Over the past three years, Massachusetts has come back. Businesses are hiring again… Our state and local tax revenues are going through the roof… On June 30 the Legislature passed a budget that spent not only all of the record tax revenues and all of the billion-dollar surplus, but also $500M from the rainy day fund. Every legislator and politician knows this spending can’t be justified, so why do they do it? Because it gets politicians praised—and re-elected. There’s no courage involved in spending more money.
Drawing a line in spending is hard and fraught with criticism. When I vetoed $458M of excessive spending in the budget this spring, I knew that community newspapers across Commonwealth would decry… and that the Legislature would over ride most of my vetoes. But someone has to say “no.”
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