Progress House Aims to Reduce Jail Recidivism with Support Services

A distinguished education, management, and technology consultant, Thomas Stoughton is the former president of the Indiana-based firm Business Consulting Incorporated. In addition to a long career advising business and municipal leaders, Thomas Stoughton has dedicated resources to support the addiction-recovery program at Progress House in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Since 2017, Progress House has been an approved provider of Recovery Works.
The program aims to make mental-health treatment and addiction-recovery services available to people uncovered by insurance who otherwise may end up behind bars. It also enhances community-supervision initiatives to reduce the chances of reincarceration for those recovering from an addiction.

According to statistics, many Americans are part of the criminal justice system because they lack healthcare coverage and adequate resources to seek treatment. For instance, approximately 16 percent of currently-incarcerated individuals have a diagnosed mental illness and 53 percent of the State Prison population have a substance-abuse disorder. Additionally, 75 percent of people who return to prison also have a substance-abuse disorder. Progress House and Recovery Works administrators believe that increased mental-health and addiction-service support will help people break destructive cycles and stay out of prison.

CRAFT Training Program Teaches Families to Help Addicts

The former president of Indiana-based Business Consulting Incorporated, Thomas Stoughton built a career as an education, a management, and a technology consultant. Aside from providing knowledgeable advice to business and municipal leaders, Thomas Stoughton has a history of supporting addiction recovery programs, including Progress House in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Encouraging addicts to take the transformative step of committing to an addiction treatment program is not an easy task for family or friends, but it is an important one. Recovering addicts frequently cite pressure from family or significant others as the reason they sought treatment. However, recent research has indicated that confronting users about their addiction in a tense or heated way is not the best way to convince them to go to rehab. An alternative approach, called Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT), teaches effective communication skills to people hoping to reach an addict and motivate change.

Developed by Robert J. Meyers, PhD, the CRAFT program helps loved ones engage the substance abuser in a compassionate and culturally sensitive way. Using a positive approach, CRAFT focuses on accessing the addict’s internal value system and using positive reinforcement to motivate him or her to seek treatment. The CRAFT program also delivers benefits to the addict’s loved ones. Participants have reported a decrease in anxiety, anger, and depression after completing the training program, even if the addict they tried to help didn’t successfully complete treatment.

Halfway Houses Help to Improve Lives

Accomplished business consultant Thomas Stoughton supports technology, civic, education, and business development initiatives that benefit his native Indiana. Thomas Stoughton of Indiana is particularly committed to supporting halfway houses and other addiction recovery efforts.

Also known as sober living homes, halfway houses are drug-free environments designed for individuals who struggle with addiction, mental health, or any other issue that makes living on their own difficult. By staying at such a house, residents can develop the self-confidence and skills they need to re-enter society after an inpatient or outpatient recovery program, homelessness, or prison without subjecting themselves to the triggering environment that likely led to their addiction in the first place.

Not every halfway house operates in the same way. For instance, some may require that residents pass a breathalyzer test or drug screening before being welcomed into the home. However, halfway houses share some general similarities. The individuals living at the home must commit to a sober lifestyle and contribute to the house by completing regular chores. Unlike inpatient programs, residents of halfway houses are allowed to come and go as they please in accordance with the house’s rules.

Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of halfway houses over the years. According to these, one of the biggest obstacles people face to staying sober is not having a stable, sober environment. Halfway houses fill this void and allow people to live without as many temptations to go back to drugs or alcohol. Further, the 12-step group affiliation at many halfway houses leads to higher abstinence from addiction.

Helping Children to Resist Peer Pressure

An experienced business consultant, Thomas Stoughton most recently served as the president of Business Consulting Incorporated. Over the years, he has supported dozens of civic, education, technology, and business development initiatives in Indiana. Dedicated to ending school violence, Thomas Stoughton played a role in the creation of the Indiana Department of Education Safety Academy, an entity that educated public school corporations about school safety.

An essential part of reducing school violence is helping students resist peer pressure to behave irresponsibly. Following are several things parents can do to help their children resist peer pressure:

– Teach them to say no. Saying “no” seems like a simple skill, but many adults have yet to master it. The reason saying “no” is so difficult is because standing up to a group, particularly a group of friends, requires a great deal of emotional and mental strength.

– Create a positive environment. All people need to feel loved and accepted, regardless of their age. Parents are tasked with providing their children with this love and showing them that home is a secure place in which to live. When kids experience more love at home, they are less likely to seek acceptance elsewhere and give in to peer pressure.

– Don’t fight over friends. Parents may not always like the friends their child picks. Still, they must remind their kid that they will always respect his or her choices in friends and love him or her regardless. Fighting over these friends almost never benefits the parent and instead breeds resentment that makes kids more susceptible to peer pressure.