Southcoast Behavioral Health Hospital

They are set up for 2 levels: inpatient hospital and detox. Of the 8 centers within 14 miles of North Dartmouth, 2 offer a bed.

They detox from alcohol, benzodiazepines, methamphetamines and opioids, so the first stage and the treatment after it can happen in one place rather than across two trips to North Dartmouth.

They have a program for veterans. Ask whether the group is veterans only, because for a lot of people that is the point of it and in North Dartmouth it may be mixed.

They prescribe buprenorphine and naltrexone, which is the part of treatment that is prescribed rather than attended. Of the 8 centers near North Dartmouth, not all of them do.

Spanish is one of 5 languages they work in beyond English, alongside Sign language, Creole and Italian, which is a wider range than most of North Dartmouth.

Four questions separate most programs: who prescribes, what the step down is, what it costs, and who it is built for. Whoever answers the phone is not always whoever operates the program, because referral services are common in this field. Ask for the daily schedule in writing rather than a description of it.

It is the same treatment with reporting attached, and most of the programs listed here take referrals. Whether a program satisfies a particular order is a question for the court or the officer rather than for the center alone. Keep your own dated record of attendance alongside whatever the program keeps.

Usually there is a route through this that keeps the job, and which route depends on the level of care. A documented medical leave is a stronger position than an unexplained absence, which is the comparison that matters. Ask the program to write the letter in terms of a medical leave rather than a diagnosis.