Northwest Alabama Mental Health Center supports a Drug Free Workplace environment and provides supportive services in developing policy and procedures for interested agencies.  

Drug Free Workplace contracts include randomized urine drug screening and employee assistance program services.  

For more information, please call 205-487-2124. 

Anger management classes are offered in a 12-week course scheduled as needed depending on location.  

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 205-487-2124.

Education classes for perpetrators of domestic violence are offered in a 16-week course scheduled as needed depending on location. 

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 205-487-2124.

We believe... 

• Addiction is a chronic, progressive, incurable, and sometimes fatal disease.  
• If left untreated, the disease will severely interfere with the ability to function in one or more areas of life.  
• Treatment works- those who get to and stay in treatment and actively work a recovery program can live free from addiction’s devastating effects.  
• Every human being has an intrinsic worth and should be treated with respect and dignity.  
• We cannot force someone to change but can influence someone to change using the right tools and motivational approaches. 
• Each person must take full responsibility for their own actions and recovery. 

START program ranges from 60 to 90 days (about 3 months). The length of stay is dependent on individual process and clinical needs.  

• A structured, supervised living environment
• Individual therapy
• Family therapy and education to help families in their recovery
• Group therapy designed to break through defense mechanisms and gain the necessary tools for recovery
• Peer support services to aid recognition that each person struggling with addition is not alone
• Didactic education (classroom structure) in addition, recovery, 12-steps, self-esteem, and other topics deemed necessary
• Therapeutic Recreation
• A caring, supportive, and encouraging but firm approach with each client to foster personal growth 
• An opportunity

Admission Criteria: 

• 13-18 years of age 
• A resident in the state of Alabama 
• Have a primary substance use disorder diagnosis  
  • Indicates the main or most important diagnosis among any conditions the person may have. 
• Have a recent physical examination, and pregnancy, STD, and TB test 
• Be willing to participate in treatment 
• Clear of mood-altering substances, homicidal or suicidal thoughts, and severe behavioral issues 
• Receive medical treatment for psychotic symptoms 

START will admit pregnant adolescents after the first (1st) trimester.  

START does not discriminate based on race or religion.  

Costs 

Each client is responsible for her own personal items needed at the program. All medical costs related to physical issues, including medication, are the responsibility of the consumer or her family, as well as the cost of any damage to START property. 

To be eligible for visitation, the client must successfully complete 14 (2 weeks) of treatment at START. Following completion, clients are entitled to visitation the following Sunday.

Please review the Visitation Guidelines prior to visiting START program.

Referrals are accepted from any service providers, juvenile courts, court referral programs, the Department of Human Resources, schools, parents, relatives, physicians, or others when consumers meet the criteria of having a substance use issue identified.

To make a referral, a full clinical assessment is required (Alabama Department of Mental Health approved form required). Additional requirements before admission include a physical examination including a TB, STD, and pregnancy testing.

Information Needed for Referrals: 

• Psychosocial Assessment (may be completed on site if not available in-home location) 
• Recent physical, TB, STD, and pregnancy test  
• List of all medications and reasons for medications 
• Name and number of contact person  

Information can be faxed to:  
205-442-7053 
Attention: Admissions 
START Program 
2584 Hwy 96 
Fayette, AL 35555 
 

• Support healthy social and emotional development.
• Strengthen problem-solving, conflict resolution, and relationship skills.
• Expand evidence-based strategies across settings and risk populations.
• Embrace and support our community while helping to improve its safety, stability, and well-being. 
• Educate and support individuals and communities in preventing the misuse of prescription drugs and alcohol.

Prevention Specialists incorporate multiple strategies to implement substance use prevention in our communities.

• Information dissemination: Provides awareness and knowledge of the nature and extent of substance use, abuse, and addiction and their effects on individuals, families, and communities. It also provides knowledge and awareness of available prevention programs and services. Information dissemination is characterized by one-way communication from the source to the audience, with limited contact between the two.
• Education: This strategy involves two-way communication and is distinguished from the information dissemination strategy by the fact that interaction between the educator/ facilitator and the participants is the basis of its activities. Activities under this strategy aim to affect critical life and social skills, including decision-making, refusal skills, critical analysis (e.g., of media messages), and systematic judgment abilities.
• Alternatives: Provides for the participation of target populations in activities that exclude substance use. The assumption is that constructive and healthy activities offset the attraction to or do not promote substance use.
• Problem Identification and Referral: Aims at identification of those who have indulged in illegal/age-inappropriate use of tobacco or alcohol and those individuals who have indulged in the first use of illicit drugs to assess if their behavior can be reversed through education. It should be noted, however, that this strategy does not include any activity designed to determine if a person is in need of treatment.
• Community-based Process: Aims to enhance the ability of the community to more effectively provide prevention and treatment services for substance abuse disorders. Activities in this strategy include organizing, planning, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of services implementation, interagency collaboration, coalition building, and networking.
• Enviromental: Establishes or changes written and unwritten community standards, codes, and attitudes, thereby influencing incidence and prevalence of substance abuse in the general population. This strategy is divided into two subcategories to permit distinction between activities that center on legal and regulatory initiatives and those that relate to the service and action-oriented initiatives.