The Addiction Services Program at Akron Children’s 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 drug screening, individual and family counseling, and an Intensive Outpatient treatment program.
We are in a unique position to work with youth of all ages. Our primary care and school health programs provide us with 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 also collaborates with the Northeast Ohio community to address overwhelming addiction concerns through education, prevention, screening, care coordination, assessment, treatment, community outreach and referral. 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.
