ABOUT TEEN CHALLENGE OF ST. LOUIS
Teen Challenge is a national, nonprofit network of faith-based rehabilitation programs for people of all ages, founded by the Reverend David Wilkerson in New York in 1958. Teen Challenge of St. Louis, located in a semi-rural area 25 miles southwest of central St. Louis, offers a long-term, residential Christian discipleship program for men struggling with problematic substance use. Applicants must be over 18, and applicants over 40 should call before submitting an application. Teen Challenge of St. Louis is an induction program: the first four months of the 14-month program are served here, and the remainder at Teen Challenge International of Mid-America in Cape Girardeau.
Teen Challenge of St. Louis partners with Diane’s House, a long-term faith-based program for women, also located in High Ridge. Elsewhere in Missouri, there’s Teen Challenge of the Four States in Neosho.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
The admission process involves a phone or in-person interview. The facility accepts incarcerated individuals, who must have an attorney or family member contact Teen Challenge to take this interview in their stead.
Teen Challenge of St. Louis aims to heal its residents by helping them to be like Jesus, through the application of Biblical principles to their relationships in their families, communities, and churches. Residents’ days are kept busy with devotions, chapel, and five hours a day on a work detail. The center does not at present specify the jobs undertaken by its residents, though the facility offers a wood delivery service that’s likely staffed by residents. Residents must also abide by a strict schedule and rules of conduct.
All medications must be pre-approved and are administered by a staff member as instructed by a physician.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Staff includes an ordained minister, a pastor, and a graduate of the Teen Challenge program; there do not appear to be any licensed medical or mental health professionals on staff. The single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the facility five out of five stars for the level of staff support it provided.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
Off-site visiting passes are granted at the director’s discretion. There is currently no further information provided by Teen Challenge of St. Louis regarding its living arrangements and related offerings, however, the single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave the facility five stars for its cleanliness and three stars for its accommodations, meals/nutrition, and exercise offerings.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Best-rehabs.com has not yet received any reviews directly from alumni of Teen Challenge of St. Louis, and secondary sites yielded mostly positive feedback at the time of this writing: the facility had a 4.6-star average rating based on 62 reviews on Facebook, where the center can manage its own page.[1] The reviewers often spoke in glowing terms of the way Teen Challenge had turned their lives around: “Changed my life. Was introduced to Lord Jesus Christ during my brief visit and ever since then my world has never been the same,” W.R. wrote in a representative review.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The single loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com to date would recommend Teen Challenge of St. Louis. “Teen Challenge has the highest rate of success after one has completed the program than any other in the world,” F.K.C. wrote, giving the facility five stars for its counseling and the quality of its addiction and mental health treatment, three stars for its family programming, and two stars for its holistic offerings.
FINANCING
Teen Challenge of St. Louis relies on donations to cover much of its operating costs, though some fees are payable by residents: there’s a $100 application fee and a non-refundable $350 admission fee.
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