Addiction Services Program

The Addiction Services Program at Akron Children’s Hospital provides evidenced-based treatment services for adolescents with substance use disorders up to age 18. This includes medication-assisted treatment for withdrawal management and ongoing maintenance along with urine drugs screening, individual and family counseling, and the newly added Intensive Outpatient treatment program. The initial intake consists of a medical evaluation with an addiction medicine physician and a diagnostic assessment with a licensed clinical counselor, specializing in substance use disorder treatment. The program complements the hospital’s current program for inpatients with another diagnosis who also have a substance use disorder.

The program also provides education, prevention, screening, care coordination, assessment, treatment, community outreach and referral to community partners. Akron Children’s Hospital is in a unique position to work with youth of all ages. Our primary care and school health programs offer us unique access and opportunities to educate children about the risks associated with substance misuse and substance use disorders. At the same time, we recognize that education of parents to protect children from prescriptions in the home is equally important. As health care providers, we also have the responsibility to have guidelines in place to prevent overprescribing as well as policies to protect and help our own employees.

Akron Children’s collaborates with the Northeast Ohio community to address the overwhelming addiction concerns we are facing. Substance use disorder affects people of all different ages from all different backgrounds – from the infant who is born in withdrawal as a result of a mother’s substance use, to the adolescent who experiments with marijuana or alcohol or becomes dependent on prescription pain medicine.

Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease. It is considered a brain disease because addictive substances and the nervous system chemicals they stimulate change the brain; they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long-lasting and can lead to harmful and self-destructive behaviors. 

As a leader in pediatric care, Akron Children’s Hospital has the goal of preventing today’s children and teens from becoming the next generation struggling with addiction.

If you feel your child or teen has a problem, please contact us at 330-543-5015.