Opinion: Tarzana Treatment Centers saved my life

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Theresa Scott, a youth residential operations supervisor for Tarzana Treatment Centers, replies to a report by The Times. If you would like to respond to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed in our Blowback forum, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

As a former drug addict who has been clean for nearly 17 years thanks to the support provided by the Tarzana Treatment Centers, I was dismayed to read The Times’ unflattering June 11 report detailing the comparatively high pay for the company’s executives. You wouldn’t know from reading the article that Tarzana has turned around the lives of countless drug abusers -- indeed, the center saved my life -- and that its executives have been the driving force behind this success.

In November 1992, I was a mother of seven children who was strung out on crack cocaine. I needed help, and the Tarzana Treatment Centers provided a loving and supportive place for me to come to five days a week. Staff members even picked me up from home and dropped me off at the end of the day. During this time, Tarzana’s counselors helped me find myself and gain the necessary skills to live a drug-free lifestyle. Albert Senella and Scott Taylor, the Tarzana executives whose pay was scrutinized by The Times, would graciously meet with the clients from time to time.

This October will mark my 17th year of sobriety, but I am not the only one whose life Tarzana helped turn around: My children are healthy and productive members of society. I had lost custody of my children when I was an addict; again, thanks to Tarzana, my children were eventually returned to me.

My link to Tarzana didn’t end with drug treatment. After completing my program, I decided to use the knowledge given to me by Tarzana and go to school to become a substance-abuse counselor. In 1994, Tarzana hired me to be an intake specialist, a counselor who screens patients before their treatment.

As an employee, I have always trusted those leading this agency. Taylor and Senella show their presence at each site to conduct quarterly staff meetings. They have always taken care of their employees, even providing free meals on holidays and other special occasions.

I have watched over the last 15 years the help that this agency has provided to the communities we serve. We started from scratch in Lancaster and now have many sites there. I currently work with the youth department in Lancaster, a division that opened in 2003. A common refrain heard from parents whose children are being treated by Tarzana is that they don’t know what they would have done without us. It isn’t easy to find the right program for their children, their parents often say, but we are and will hopefully always be here to serve the youth as well as adults.

As for those youth who don’t have such supportive family members, Tarzana tends to become home for them. We often receive letters from them expressing thanks; we’re especially thrilled when they tell us they’ve stayed clean. Many have found jobs, and some have gone into military service.

I can’t emphasize this enough: Tarzana Treatment Centers saved my life. I could have stayed an addict and seen my children end up in trouble and on drugs. We are in the business of saving lives and will continue to do so. Both as an employee and a former client, I have seen from all perspectives the good we do, and I will continue to trust those leading Tarzana.