A blend of a drug-free regimen, classroom orientation and instruction, group discussion, individual counseling, case management and transitional housing defines Recovery in Community, Inc., a substance-abuse prevention and treatment agency in the city of Baltimore, The Examiner reported April 15.

"Recovery in Community is a state-certified, outpatient treatment program with a comprehensive, long-term commitment to substance-abuse intervention, prevention and treatment," said Lena M. Franklin, the nonprofit's executive director. "It's an out-of-the-box kind of thing. Our focus is not on episodic treatment but on retaining people for the longer haul."

The nonprofit program, with a staff of 11 employees, was started in 1998 as a city health department program with a $2 million grant from the Abell Foundation. The program serves about 300 people a year.

About 40 of the nonprofit's current 103 clients have taken free housing provided by partnering housing nonprofits. "We're able to place people in housing for up to three months to help them get their foundation in the recovery process," Franklin said.

"We really believe that addiction should be treated as any other chronic illness," Franklin continued. "We don't punish and denigrate people for not following their treatment plan. We bring them in and talk about what we can do."

The formal program offers recovery support activities following its one-year duration.