ABOUT THE BRIDGE — GADSDEN CAMPUS
Founded in 1974 by a local minister, The Bridge now operates four residential and five outpatient facilities, offering substance abuse treatment and behavioral rehabilitation programs for youths ages 12 to 19. Located on 72 rural acres outside the small, northeast Alabama city of Gadsden, the Gadsden Campus contains three distinct centers, each of which provides residential treatment for adolescent males.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
The Gadsden Campus is home to three addiction treatment centers: Kennington, Mitchell, and Northwood. Northwood treats boys aged 12 to 18 who are struggling with dual diagnosis; both Mitchell and Kennington treat boys aged 12 to 19 who are struggling with substance abuse alone. Comprehensive medical services are available on-campus.
All three programs offer individualized, strengths-based treatment, using a journaling program designed to foster permanent and positive life changes. The programs also offer 1.5 hours of individual therapy per week, and between five and 7.5 hours of group therapy, peer support groups, life-skills training, and case management services. Family therapy is held biweekly, either in person or via Skype or the phone. The centers also advertise daily recreational activities, though they do not specify what these are.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The team includes master’s level social workers and therapists. The three individuals polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the center mixed reviews of a one-star rating, a four-star rating, and a five-star rating for its staff’s level of training and experience.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
The three facilities accommodate between 24 and 26 residents each. On-site schooling, including job skills awareness and work toward a high-school diploma or GED, is provided via the Attalla City School System.
All three individuals polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the facility five stars for its cleanliness, and four or five stars for its exercise and leisure provisions. For its meals, they gave the center a one-star rating and two five-star ratings.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The single alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave mostly negative feedback. Though he gave the center five out of five stars for its family participation, its counseling options, and its admin and discharge practices, he indicated that he would not recommend the program, and gave it just one star for its holistic offerings and its treatment for co-occurring disorders. “They need to pay more attention,” he wrote anonymously.
At the time of this writing, secondary review sites yielded mixed commentary, with a 3.6-star average rating based on 10 reviews on Facebook, and on Google, a one-star rating and a five-star rating.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Both loved ones polled by Best-rehabs.com to date would strongly recommend treatment at this facility, and both gave the center five stars for its family program and four or five stars for its counseling options. However, they disagreed about the program’s performance in other areas, giving it a two-star rating and a five-star rating for its treatment effectiveness, and a three-star rating and a five-star rating for its treatment for co-occurring disorders. “They are very on top of everyone's condition,” one anonymous reviewer wrote; the other added that the program encouraged responsibility, but “needs to stay in contact with the clients.”
WHAT STAFF SAY
Staff posting on secondary sites had given mostly positive feedback at the time of this writing: the center had a 4.25-star average rating, based on four reviews left across Indeed.com and Glassdoor. Most of these staffers indicated a personal commitment to clients’ wellbeing: “Getting to know the kids is the best part of the job. Knowing that some of them will not get the help they need is hard,” one anonymous reviewer wrote in a representative review on Indeed.
“Gossip and negative drama. Facility not really sanitary for clients. Lack of diversity… Health department needs to be called on the cafeteria… Clients are often mistreated and yelled at,” one anonymous former reviewer wrote on Glassdoor, in the only note of complaint from staff.
FINANCING
According to its website, The Bridge accepts Medicaid and state insurance as well as private insurance — though it does not specify whether it is in-network with any providers. The three individuals polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the center a one-star rating and two five-star ratings for its affordability.
Updated April 2017