The Basics
WAPI Community Services in Seattle’s Columbia City has organized three programs for adolescents: Street Scholars, Katalyst and Prevention, in order to serve the purpose of giving teens from marginalized communities the tools to succeed. Only one of the programs is concerned with chemical dependence, however. WAPI’s Street Scholars belong to an outpatient drug treatment program, where they learn about addiction and also about the environmental factors that can cause addiction. The program is open Monday through Friday, from 10 am until close of business.
Treatment and Staff
Treatment happens in the red brick WAPI building on the corner of Rainer Avenue, about 40 minutes from downtown Seattle. Street Scholars is not only a program for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, but also to teach leadership skills. The program begins with identifying the client’s problem and figuring out an appropriate course of counseling. Clients between the ages of 10 and 20 meet with counselors individually and in a group setting, becoming one another’s support group. Street Scholars is also designed for kids of color and the social justice curriculum is meant to educate clients about their unique challenges and opportunities. Clients participate in recreational activities and also attend 12-step AA and NA meetings together. The Street Scholars program is year-round. A continuing care plan is made when clients are ready to scale down their outpatient participation.
Every Street Scholar’s course might be a little different, but each client participates in the same Seven Challenges program. The Seven Challenges is a recovery program for teens addicted to drugs and alcohol patented by Dr. Robert Schwebel, who was convinced that in order for recovery to work, co-occurring mental issues and life skill deficits must be addressed in treatment. The Seven Challenges are about acknowledging the why behind drug and alcohol abuse and then figuring out how that abuse obstructed the achievement of goals. The follow through in the final step is not magically achieved, but held together through the peer and 12-step support that WAPI encourages. (Dr. Schwebel has appeared on Oprah and The Today Show, and has written a number of books including Saying No Is Not Enough.)
Extras
As part of treatment, clients in the Street Scholars program get to book time in the recording studio the Katalyst program kids use. WAPI arranges fun annual community events to raise money, and clients from all programs are encouraged to participate. One is a bowl-a-thon called the Kingpin Classic, held at the local Imperial Lanes, and the other is WAPIfest! an afternoon event at the Jefferson Community Center with food, a pie toss and a raffle with prizes.
In Summary
WAPI Community Services is a mix of traditional and progressive recovery program—traditional in the sense that WAPI encourages 12-step involvement and progressive in its social justice bent. The seventh of the Seven Challenges that Street Scholars take on is: “We followed through on our decisions about our lives and drug use” and this could definitely be achieved through the services WAPI offers.
WAPI Community Services
3722 S Hudson St
Seattle, WA 98118
WAPI Community Services Cost: Sliding scale. Reach WAPI Community Services by phone at (206) 223-9578 or by email at info@wapiseattle.org. Find WAPI Community Services on Facebook and Twitter
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Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
