Pondering
 

Just knowing that there are so many people who have a hard time making ends meet, living from pay check to pay check...where does an addict turn to for help when there is no money to pay for rehab?

There is no affliction that offers more free help than that of alcoholism. None.

There is a Salvation Army in almost every town in the United States.
Any city that has Mental Health services offers alcohol and addiction therapy.
There is an AA meeting nearby, wherever you are.

Yup, same in Australia.....there are a few govt funded clinics where you can go for up to 30 days I think. Im not sure if the salvation army run rehabs here....but theres free help everywhere!

I didn't have the luxury of a detox or treatment when it was time for me to get sober.

And I didn't know about some of the local facilities here that would have
at least supervised medically a detox for me at no charge.
So I did wind up with some long lasting effects,
but nothing I can't cope with and today even laugh about.

But even the farthest gone alcoholic has to make a decision
or nothing ever changes for them ... all the way to the bitter end.

And it is a bitter thing indeed.

Alcoholics Anonymous in your area has information on centers locally.
Salvation Army also has information and sometimes local programs they offer.
Your local hospital may also run some kind of clinic on local donations
you can't know if you don't know where to start.

And there's always your local health department,
or your private doctor
if you've the luxury of having one of those.

I something in all this rambling
helps you get some ideas.

It helps. I was just wondering.

I also wonder what happens when a junkie ends up in jail. Do they get any kind of help?

Usually not.

Only from their fellow inmates.

AA and I think NA take their meetings into jails.

I know they do here.
But I don't know if that goes for everywhere.

Where I live you get WAY more free services if you go to jail..they will send you to drug court and mandate you get rehab whichnis PAID FOR. NOw, if you manage not to get arrested, you are SOL. Ist rehab we negotiated a half price deal 5 weeks for 17,000. Yes, 30,000 a month for the rest of the crew. My ins. covers some on this one, but it will be at a min. 5000 bucks. We are middle class, not rich and this is really hurting us finacially.Just thankful I have the credit to pull it off. In our area there is NO inpatient rehab w/ the county all oupatient which is really not ideal.

They DO have state prison - run rehab facilities here,
I just thought you meant like ... county jail.
Which is where most of them sit around here
until they get sentencded.

We still kinda have the 'old west' thing going on here in Montana.

Salvation Army has detox and rehab services in every state of Australia. Oz Care, a part of St Vincent DE Paul Society also runs rehab houses. Drug and Alcohol, a department of Health in each state also deals with addiction cases and can arrange detox and rehab, as well as OP services.

God bless

AA/NA offers no-cost excellent treatment (in the form of 90 meetings in 90 days).

Salvation Army has their huge rehab program with many facilities throughout the country.

In this area we have a church that has created a long-term program (no cost) that has also bought up houses nearby (all by donations) and renovated them to be sober houses for the graduates of the long-term program.

Teen Challenge is a no-cost program that has facilities all over the country. This is a long-term program for adults over 18 (they really need to change that name). It is funded by donations from churches all over the country.

There are probably scores of churches that have created long-term programs for treating addictions that don't make the radar because they are not that big. Somebody once gave me a nice brochure from a church about a facility they had somewhere in the East.

God bless the creators of all these facilities who realize that the person who needs their help the most is also the person whose life is so devastated that they have no money for the help they need. I shop at all the thrift shops that fund these places.

I know your daughter is in rehab already, so you are just curious on this one. God has made provision for all the addicts. The hard part is not finding no-cost rehab. The hard part is watching the addict continue his/her spiral into the abyss all the while denying he/she needs that kind of help.

There's a little more to it than just curiosity. If she relapses and needs to go into rehab again, I may not be able to afford it.

SAdly once doesn't always work, (or 8 times for some!) I think you are smart to just have something in case..this gives you time so you don't have to panic if there is a next time! Also, some of the free places have 6 week wait lists..yikes! Who wants to sit around with their detoxing addict for 6 weeks,,not I!