SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Aug. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sovereign Health, a leading national provider of behavioral health treatment services, has launched a groundbreaking editorial series, "Not in my Backyard," or "NIMBY." NIMBY is the acronym of the phrase that is currently applied to the protest movement driven by residents of towns and cities across the United States. Many of these individuals are opposed to having sober living residences and mental health and addiction treatment facilities located in their communities. Sovereign Health's NIMBY series provides an in-depth analysis of the complex range of community concerns, state regulations, and state and federal laws that need to be taken into account by anyone looking to have an accurate and fair-minded understanding of the current NIMBY movement. The vast majority of press coverage to date has only focused on the fears of local residents and has failed to address the complexities of state regulations, state and federal laws and the contributions of Sovereign Health and other responsible behavioral health treatment providers and advocates who are fighting to provide treatment for people with physical and mental disabilities.

The inaugural article in Sovereign Health's NIMBY series, "Communities resist mental health and alcohol and drug treatment facilities," provides an analysis of the substance abuse and crime problems that currently exist in San Clemente and the concerns of residents. As noted in the piece, NIMBY resistance is fueled by residents' unjustified fears that allowing these types of businesses to operate in their communities will reduce property values and bring in more drugs and crime to their neighborhoods. Using publicly available law enforcement agency statistics, the series documents, that in fact, residents' fears are almost completely unjustified. For the time period of 2009 to 2014, the vast majority of crime rates have actually gone down in San Clemente. See also: Appendix: Tables and graphs of crimes in San Clemente from 2009 to 2015.

Thomas Renfree, the Deputy Director of Substance Use Disorder Services at County Behavioral Health Directors Association California (CBHDA), stated in an interview with Sovereign Health, "It baffles me why communities think that it would be better to have people running around with untreated substance abuse rather than people who are actually in treatment programs. The community would seem like it would have a lot more to fear from untreated substance abuse rather than programs that are getting people into treatment."

This opening article in the NIMBY series takes a deeper look at the most critical issues, including:

• Residents' complaints about residential treatment facilities
• Federal and state laws that protect individuals with disabilities
• Pushback laws and new legislation in California
• Changes in San Clemente's crime over the last 10 years
• Unfounded concerns about the link between mental health and addiction treatment facilities and crime
• The issue of whether or not crime is higher near drug treatment facilities

One of the key takeaways from Sovereign Health's NIMBY series is that researchers have documented the importance of providing evidence-based treatments to people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders (SUDs), not only to improve their quality of life, but also to lessen the social and economic burden of these conditions on society as a whole. Although many people agree that individuals with mental health, addiction and co-occurring issues benefit considerably from receiving treatment, local governments and residents often adopt the "NIMBY" mentality when it comes to having such facilities located in their communities.

Look for the second and third installments of the NIMBY series, "The endemic problems of mental illness and substance abuse in San Clemente," and "How do violent crimes affect communities?" to launch on Monday, Aug. 29, and Wednesday, Aug. 31, respectively. To follow Sovereign's breakthrough NIMBY series, follow the story on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube with #NotinMyBackyard, #NIMBY, #SanClemente, #Crime and #Sovtalk.

Sovereign Health's treatment facilities are licensed to provide both addiction/dual diagnosis treatment and mental health treatment, such as trauma, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Sovereign also offers treatment for patients who have chronic pain, eating disorders and cognitive deficits. Sovereign provides patients with advanced diagnostic assessment processes and utilizes cutting-edge technology led by strong medical and clinical professionals. The organization treats adolescents and adults and is also proud to serve active United States military personnel and returning war veterans. 

About Sovereign Health

Sovereign Health's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality behavioral health treatment services for adults and adolescents, including support services for family members. One factor that differentiates Sovereign from other treatment providers has been the company's ability to offer separate mental health and addiction or dual diagnosis treatment programs at its facilities. For more information, visit www.sovhealth.com.  

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SOURCE Sovereign Health

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