Ascent Recovery Services

09/30/2021

Ascent has had the privilege of working with some really amazing people. Today, we find ourselves incredibly grateful for those who are thriving and living their best lives. Thank you all. You put in the work!

On the tough days, you remind us of why we do what we do 🙌! Watching a human recover from acute addiction is one of the most incredible things you can witness. Addiction is NOT indicative of character. Reach out to someone you know tonight who’s struggling, and tell them you support their wellness and they can do it! 👊🏼

07/14/2021

(CNN) - “Drug overdose deaths rose by close to 30% in the United States in 2020, hitting the highest number ever recorded, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.”

Over 93,000 people. This number is inconceivable. Heartbreaking.

Dynamic visualizations of the current flow of drug overdose data collected and analyzed by CDC. This web-based application allows people to create customized, visual interpretations of provisional drug overdose data, as well as make comparisons across jurisdictions and data years.

06/24/2021

to this amazing article written by Karen Garcia of the New Times SLO! Take a look at what we’re about and what we do in the community. If you know anyone struggling with addiction, encourage them, & let them know that it’s never too late to ask for help! Call or text (805) 242-3646 for a free consultation.

Charlie Jackson has been in the mental health and addiction recovery field since 2009. Jackson's first job was in rehab for substance abuse disorders. His...

06/17/2021

Behavioral Health Insurance transparency is something that is a very important part a solution moving forward for addiction treatment. Did you know:

1.) Prior to behavioral health insurance covering residential treatment/sub-acute detox to the extent it does now, models for most treatment centers were expanding beyond the original 30 day model?realizing the time it takes to stabilize someone, case manage, prepare for discharge planning, continuity of care between providers, most treatment centers were expanding to anywhere from 90 days to 6 months.

2.) the current combined average length of stay in residential treatment and detox for someone with the most common private insurance (i.e., Blue Shield of CA) is anywhere from 6 - 14 days (!).

3.) the current criteria being used by health insurance to determine whether or not someone is “appropriate” for any given level of intensive care (detox/Residential/rehab) does not always accurately measure someone’s wellness/readiness to move on to the next stage?

4.) Those with CenCal (the Holman Group provides behavioral health benefits) can’t access residential treatment in the county, even though on their website it says it’s a covered part of services. People in SB county can access it, but not people in SLO county. We’ve confirmed this through phone calls to the Holman group.

5.) Our county has just over 262,000 people. In a study completed by SAMHSA in 2019, “61.2M Americans (18 years or older) had a mental illness and/or substance use disorder-an increase of 5.9% over 2018 composed entirely of increases in mental illness”. https://datafiles.samhsa.gov

These numbers are increasing at rates that are almost hard to believe. It’s never too late to seek help. Make sure you’re informed on what yours or your loved one’s choices really are. And if you have CenCal, call the Holman group and ask them why you don’t have access to residential treatment. (800) 321-2843.

Ascent is here to help. Call, text, email us today, and we’ll help however we can. SLO county deserves better!

SAMHDA provides public-use data files, data analysis systems, and other information from the mental health and substance abuse evaluation data collected by SAMHSA.

06/11/2021

Happy Friday everyone!!! Drop one of your favorite inspirational or recovery quote in the comments! We’ll start...

“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

- “The Stonecutter’s Credo”, by Jacob Riis.

We love this quote because it highlights the fact that growth doesn’t *only* occur when things aren’t working out, our problems pile up, or we feel stuck. Life is tough as stone sometimes, and just when it seems like no matter how hard we try, we can’t break through; we finally break the stone in two. It wasn’t because we did one thing, talked to one person, had one thing happen to us... it was because we stayed in action & didn’t give up during the struggle. Pound the Rock!

06/03/2021

We’d like to thank Karen Garcia from the New SLO Times for taking the time to talk to Charlie about the company, what we’re doing, and Where we’re headed. Karen is a wonderful journalist and has been advocating for mental health and substance abuse for a while. While the Ascent part of this story is one thing, the thing we’d like for everyone to take away is that the current system is broken. Lots of people are dying, lots of families are destroyed, and WE (the people of SLO county) can do something by letting our voices be heard. There’s a ton of great providers in the area. Everyone deserves help. Please share and thank you for your support!!

Charlie Jackson has been in the mental health and addiction recovery field since 2009. Jackson's first job was in rehab for substance abuse disorders. His...