ABOUT NEW RIVER VALLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES – BRIDGE PROGRAM
Located in Blacksburg, Va., the Bridge Program from New River Valley Community Services provides substance abuse treatment in a drug court setting. According to its website, the NRVCS is “a jail diversion program designed to divert individuals with mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into community-based treatment and services.”
New River Calley Community Services serves in five different counties, with locations in Radford and Fairlawn.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Only certain people will meet the strict qualifications to participate in the Bridge Program. First, clients must have a diagnosed mental illness. Substance abuse alone is not enough to qualify. Participants must be involved in the criminal justice system, facing pending legal charges, be ordered into the program by a judge, or ordered into treatment as a condition of their probation. Any individual who have already been sentenced to a jail term or have sexual charges are not eligible. Clients must live and face charges in Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, and Radford City counties.
The Bridge Program is a transitional program, intended to help clients between release from jail and finding services to meet their ongoing needs. To participate, clients must commit to six to 12 months of treatment. Treatment will not continue past 12 months, even if services are still needed. Monthly progress reports and results of regular drug testing are sent to the courts, Department of Social Services, and probation officers.
Treatment may include evidence-based treatment such as individual and group counseling, psychiatric services, medication assistance, help obtaining community resources, substance abuse treatment, and limited transportation services.
This program offers several group treatment options, including groups. These specialized groups include Seeking Safety, Beyond the Bars (BTB), anger management, and groups about relationships and shoplifting. Traumatic experiences are not allowed to be discussed during group sessions with Seeking Safety.
For individuals in jail, some jail services are available that may include psychiatric assessments and medication evaluations. Case managers can provide weekly coping skills groups and help secure ongoing access to community resources upon release.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The treatment team includes a case manager, a psychiatrist, psychiatric staff, behavioral specialists, and clinicians. The sole alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date rated the staff’s level of experience and training a perfect five stars.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
There is not currently any information available on the Bridge Program’s website about NRVCS’s accommodations or amenities. The sole individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date rated its accommodations and amenities and meals and nutrition five out of five stars, but rated its cleanliness only one star.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The sole alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the Bridge Program mixed ratings, rating its exercise and leisure options, its holistic treatment offerings, and its connectivity three stars, and its affordability and family participation just one star. However, when asked, on a scale from one to five, whether they would recommend treatment at the Bridge Program, the alum gave a perfect five-star rating.
WHAT STAFF SAY
New River Valley Community Services as a whole (in addition to the Bridge Program) has mixed to negative reviews from current and former staffers on Indeed, where the network has a rating of 2.7 out of five stars based on 29 reviews to date, and on Glassdoor, where it has 3.6 out of five stars based on 14 reviews to date.
In comments, employees complained of poor structure at work and were split on the quality of supervision from management, though several did write that collaboration among staff was adequate. In a two-star review, a former direct care provider wrote: “It is also a shame the way the supervisors treat their staff. Clients are important, but you have to treat your staff right in order to keep them around to help the clients.”
FINANCING
Many clients are admitted into the program as a condition of a bond, judge’s sentence, or condition of probation. The facility provides no additional information about the costs or payment options available for this program.
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