Westlake Recovery

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This complaint simply misstates the...

facts about our house and about our client. It was made by a client's family member, who did not visit the facility and never participated in our services. As for the client, he arrived at our house on Sunday and left the next day. Because he was at the house for less than two full days he really only knows about the two activities that were scheduled and provided during the time he was at our house, which he choose not to participate in. Here are the specifics:
 
With respect to activities, on the day the client arrived we had an off-site canoe trip and our usual mandatory house meeting at which we conduct drug tests. The client refused to attend either activity. All the activities described in the 18 page service agreement the client signed in which he also provided his initials to every service we offer which describes exactly when, where and how our services are provided.
 
With respect to curfews, we have a live-in House Manager, Activities Coordinator and Housekeeper who monitor compliance with our curfews. However, we are a recovery house, not a jail, and if a client refuses to follow our rules we can only use persuasion or, in the worst case, expel them from the house. In this case the client left after only a day and really doesn't know anything about our procedures for dealing with curfew problems, which we believe are effective. We are also one of only a handful of recovery houses with covert surveillance cameras and a key less entry system to help keep our house safe 24 hours a day.
 
Concerning our staff, our Activities Coordinator has over 10 years of sobriety experience and the House Owner has more than 7 years of recovery experience. Most of our clients leave the house satisfied with the programs that have helped them back to sobriety. The rare exceptions are those who stay only a few days and fail to take advantage of what we offer.
 
Concerning access to public transportation, the 197 bus stop is a 3 minute bike ride from our house and the 333 bus stops is less than a 9 minute bicycle ride. Our live-in Housekeeper also provides rides to any member without transportation willing to pay for gas. Our house is located in an upscale residential neighborhood because that gives our clients a feeling of normalcy and because it provides some isolation from the temptations available elsewhere. Clients who have a legitimate need to travel for work find the situation ideal. We have had several members without their own personal automobile stay with us for many months and still attend all of their appointments and hold a full-time job.
 
Concerning approved restaurants, 25 of the 50 are located within a few miles of the house, and if for some reason public transportation is not available our Housekeeper offers transportation as he has done many times in the past for other members of the house. In this case the client didn't stay during the days the meal program was available (Monday - Friday) even try the approved restaurants.
 
Concerning activities in the house, it is simply not true that our rules are not enforced. Not all our clients have immediate employment when coming to our house, and among the activities we offer is job counseling and placement services. We also allow clients to stay at the house on days off, which is clearly better than requiring them to leave and spend the day with no structured activities to help them stay sober. No pipes are allowed in the house, but we do permit e-cigarettes. Frankly, it is better to have our clients in the house with a vapor cigarette than out on the street.
 
Finally, we do not offer refunds to clients who simply walk out as this client did. One of the most important aspects of recovery is a real commitment to the process, and part of that commitment, which is set out very clearly in our contract, is that no refunds are given in cases where the client uses drugs or alcohol or chooses to leave. Recovery can be difficult, and if quitting the program had no financial consequences it would simply be too easy for our clients to give up and return to their former lives of addiction. In this case the client simply lacked the commitment required, and in fact left within a day before taking advantage of any of our programs. It is a sad fact that many addicts simply cannot give up their past, even for a day or two, but this client's failure is not the fault of Westlake Recovery House.

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This complaint was written by a family member...

who was never a client of ours and had paid for the services of a client. Although, she was aware that the client violated his contract and absolutely no refunds are available, she submitted a complaint against our house once she was told a refund was not available but that the client could complete his contract at a later date. Since the client violated his contract our house was not obligated to even allow the client to complete his contract, but made an exception for this one case. Even with allowing the client to complete his contract, which our house was not obligated to do (since the client violated his contract) the family member demanded a full refund.
 
Our recovery house is recognized by many upscale treatment centers as having the highest quality sober house in the state of [redacted]. Just the structure of the house alone is considered the best; it is the largest (5,400 sq. ft.) newest (3 years old) and most expensive property (valued at $792,000 in 2012) in [redacted]. We also provide the highest quality and most extensive recovery services than any recovery house in the state, which can be verified by looking at the list of services on our web-site and brochures. Our services include 5 health conscious meals per week, a monthly personal fitness trainer, membership to Lifetime Fitness (an upscale fitness facility), monthly massage and haircut at [redacted], monthly artistic development sessions, weekly meditation lessons, weekly qigong lessons, weekly yoga classes, visits from recovery professionals to the house twice per month, weekly recovery coach meeting, weekly accountability partner meeting, weekly house events, three recovery meetings per week with drug testing twice per week from 18 individual drug test kits, and a live-in housekeeper, house manager and activities coordinator..
 
Although, our house provides extensive sober services, we are not a jail or a treatment center and cannot by law prescribe medicine to our members or make them stay at the house. The client refused to take his bi-polar medicine and had caused other members to feel very uncomfortable by carrying around a baseball bat and threatening to harm them. It was after the client had stayed up for 2 days straight and threatened our clients that his parents were called and asked to pick him up. Upon their arrival the client was still very hostile, belligerent and obscene. The parents were notified that the client may return back to the house at a later date, if he was medically stable and made restitution for his actions, otherwise we could not allow such a disturbance to affect the serenity and peacefulness of our recovery house.
 
As to the sale of the clients computer to another member, the computer was a 15 year old laptop and not worth even $40 but was paid $100 from another member in which the client had two other computers he was using. Although, our recovery house is one of only a few in the nation that has a live-in housekeeper, the client was asked to mow the yard after violating curfew, screaming at others, walking out of a mandatory house meeting and cursing openly. Even with given the opportunity to mow the yard to make an effort of restitution, the client refused to even cut half of it.
 
Although, the client signed a 15 page living contract with his initials next to 50 house rules that he agreed to abide by before any payment was received and before he moved into the house, the client's family member mentions,“We were not told that living there came with a list of 50 rules” which is absolutely false. The client was fully aware of the rules of the house and had violated several during his short time at the house.
 
The Westlake Recovery House makes every effort to provide the highest quality of care, support and structure available within the state of [redacted] at the most affordable cost in the nation. We have an 18 page service contract which explains where, when and how our services are provided, along with a 15 page living contract that spells out each house rule which members initial and sign. We also provide the highest quality living standards in [redacted] with having the largest, newest and most expensive property with brand new furniture throughout the house and are the only ones with a live-in Housekeeper, House Manager and Activities Coordinator. We go out of our way to provide the most luxurious and helpful recovery services but cannot force a member to recover. If a member chooses to not take medicine, stay up for two days straight, and threaten to harm others with a baseball bat, we have to ask that member to leave the house. We also do not provide refunds for members who clearly violate their contracts.