| The South Texas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse is a community-based, non-profit outpatient and referral agency providing substance abuse prevention, intervention, education, and treatment services to the general population of Laredo and Catchment Area 3 of South Texas (part of Public Health Region 11). Founded in 1990 by citizens of the region, the organization was established as the local state authority on substance abuse for screening and assessment services. With a staff of only three, STCADA began providing those services along with prevention, intervention and placement on a very small scale. In 1993 it became the only treatment facility in South Texas to be recognized on a national level by the Project for Addiction Counselors’ Training (PACT) as a counselor-training site. The STCADA budget has grown from $85,000 per year in 1990 to the present $2.3 million a year. Programs were added as the agency grew, including Level IV Outpatient Counseling Services, Mi Tierra, a specialized program for women with children (1998), Federal Probation, Pre-Trail, HEI (HIV Early Intervention – 1997), Voces Fronterizas (2004), a program providing education, prevention and intervention services about HIV/AIDS and various Youth Prevention Programs that provide prevention services in schools and the community. During this time of growth, STCADA has met the challenge of finding and developing professionals to provide its much needed services. The agency also provides the opportunity to work with staff on state licensure through its Clinical Training Institute-a state issued license. Since inception, STCADA has striven to bring research-proven effectiveness to agency services and programs. This includes tailoring our services to confront unique, escalating regional patterns of drug-use on the Texas-Mexico border and delivering services in culturally relevant ways. STCADA strives to prevent alcoholism and drug abuse and promote understanding of the disease, its causes by providing education, information, counseling and referral services to the citizens of Laredo and Catchment Area 3. We look to the future with the goal of expanding these community services and keeping them on the cutting edge of prevention and treatment technology in order to provide the most effective intervention. We maintain cooperative relationships with all social service agencies. The STCADA team consisting of board members and staff continuously strives to achieve its mission statement “To provide effective, compassionate and culturally sensitivesubstance abuse services that offer new opportunities and hope to the communities of South Texas”.Back To Top Click Here |