ABOUT STEWART-MARCHMAN-ACT BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE — DAYTONA
Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare — named for the Acts that allow it to accept involuntary admissions — operates several behavioral health facilities in Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia Counties, with the vast majority of services being offered from Volusia County. Substance abuse offerings include crisis services (including medical detox), residential treatment, outpatient services, and sober-living facilities for the homeless and chronically addicted. SMA is one of 604 (84.4 percent) of Florida outpatient clinics, and one of 208 (29.1 percent) of non-hopsital residential clinics.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
SMA offers the WARM (Women Assisting Recovery Mothers) program, a long-term residential program for pregnant and post-partum mothers and women with young children, in which children under six may stay with their mothers. Treatment is based upon assessments of clients during admission.
SMA offers both a short-term intensive residential program and a long-term residential program for adult men, both of which treat co-occurring disorders. The short-term program gives clients psychiatric evaluations and assists with the management of psychotropic medications. The long-term program offers individual, group, and community therapy and psychiatric interventions.
SMA also runs a long-term residential program for adolescents ages 13 to 17. Averaging four to six months, the program bases treatment on the 12-Steps as well as offers evidence-based therapies including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) (one of 373 (52.1 percent) of Florida facilities to offer DBT), reality therapy, an outdoor therapeutic model, and more. The program treats co-occurring disorders, and education services are provided by Volusia County schools.
General outpatient programs for adults and adolescents are offered at several centers. SMA also operates a shelter for truant adolescents and housing services for homeless clients.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Program staff varies from location to location. The facility’s website indicates that some locations contract psychiatrists and there is mention of licensed therapists and nurses. The 14 alumni and their loved ones polled by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing gave the staff’s level of training and experience an average rating of 3.43 out of five stars.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
There is currently no information provided by the facility regarding its living arrangements and related offerings, but the 14 individuals polled on the facility’s cleanliness gave it an average rating of 3.71 stars.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Of the eight alumni reviews submitted to Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing, four were positive, three were negative, and one was neutral. Of those eight reviewers, six were polled thoroughly on a variety of the facility’s offerings, including its family participation, counseling options, and holistic offerings, which received average ratings of four, 3.33, and 2.67 stars respectively.
Recurring criticisms included minimal therapy and guidance and long wait times for admission. “Improper/incomplete guidance and information, no true concern for persons in need,” one anonymous reviewer wrote. Other alumni noted a lack of funding, tough treatment from counselors, and occasional aggression from fellow clients. Alum D.B. even went so far as to report, “Run do not walk away from that facility! It’s a filthy hole that needs to be shut down.”
Yet praise included the staff and individual therapy at an inexpensive price. “Helpful staff. They offer a great addiction recovery program,” one anonymous reviewer wrote. And H.D.M. added simply: “Caring was excellent!!!”
Reviews on Google were similarly mediocre, where the average rating of 2.8 out of five stars was given by 19 reviewers to date.[1] Eight of these individuals left five-star reviews, and in a representative comment, J.W. wrote, “They saved my life.The staff is great.” However, the other 10 reviewers all gave only one out of five stars. They complained of disorganized scheduling and unhelpful staff.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Reviews from loved ones skewed more positive. Of the eleven reviews received by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing, five were positive, four were ambivalent or neutral, and only one was outright negative. Loved ones gave the facility an average rating of four stars for its family program (based on eight survey responses), 3.5 stars for its counseling options (based on eight survey responses), and 2.14 stars for its holistic offerings (based on seven survey responses). Recurring praise was awarded to the staff — described as “very experienced” and “caring” — as well as the programs, particularly the group therapy and workout options.
The programming itself received more mixed reviews. One parent of a former client commented, “This was the only one I could afford for my son and the quality was poor,” and gave the facility’s overall quality three stars. Contrastingly, the sibling of a former client granted five stars for treatment effectiveness, writing, “The group therapy was very straighforward my sister really opened up and took ownership of her problem. I think more focused group therapy would be helpful.”
Multiple reviewers left complaints about the facility being too crowded, as well as noting that groups were unhelpful because of the variety of different problems they attempted to address. “I think more focused group therapy would be helpful,” one anonymous reviewer wrote. Another mentioned, “All in all this is a good place,I feel that people with different types of issues should be kept seperate.”
In addition, three reviewers complained of understaffing, and one reported to Best-rehabs.com that aftercare was lacking.
FINANCING
According to the facility’s website, a sliding fee scale is available, and no one is denied services because they’re unable to pay. Citehealth and Healthgrove both report that SMA accepts private insurance as well. The 14 reviewers polled on the facility’s affordability at the time of this writing gave it an average rating of 3.93 out of five.
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