Treatment Center For Teens To Move

Daybreak of Spokane plans to move its inpatient drug and alcohol treatment center for teenagers to the lower South Hill and double its size.

The new center is scheduled to open in August with 40 beds, instead of the 20 now available.

“We need more room,” said Tim Smith, executive director of Daybreak.

The inpatient center has been housed for 14 years in a building owned by the Morning Star Boys Ranch in southeast Spokane County. The waiting list is about 30 teenagers, who typically wait from 10 to 16 weeks for a slot in the program. Treatment is generally 60 days.

The new center will be in the former Mountain View Hospital building, 628 S. Cowley, which used to be a substance-abuse treatment center for adults until closing in 1993.

Daybreak also operates two outpatient treatment centers. The Valley center was moved and expanded last August to try to help the growing number of teens with addictions.

Another outpatient center, at Mission and Hamilton, might move its offices to the new South Hill operation in the future.

Daybreak treats boys and girls ages 12 to 17. The nonprofit organization treats from 250 to 300 teens a year in its outpatient program and 115 to 120 in its inpatient program.

The program accepts patients from all over the Inland Northwest.

“There are just not enough beds available statewide, so people have to go shopping for beds,” Smith said.

The new building will be slightly modified before August, opening it up to make it more usable and durable for teenagers, Smith said.

Basic operating costs for the new center will run about $16,000 a month, compared with $6,000 for the current building. The larger program likely will see a staffing jump, to as many as 40 from 30 in the first year.

, DataTimes