VAN NUYS : Drug Rehab Agency Celebrates 20 Years

Coming through the earthquake in one piece was just the beginning of a tough month for the nonprofit Inter-Agency Drug Abuse Recovery Programs of Van Nuys.

The agency, which has a contract with Los Angeles County to provide addiction recovery programs, including treatment for juveniles in detention, is celebrating its 20th anniversary today under trying circumstances.

The program’s offices on Van Nuys Boulevard remained intact after the Jan. 17 earthquake. But for the agency’s clients, the quake left scars, not only on homes and property, but on the progress of their recovery from drug dependence.

“The earthquake is certainly intensifying things,” said Ken Castro-Oistad, executive director of the program. “The population who are addicts are on edge anyway. When a major catastrophe occurs, it pushes some over.”

For some clients, the strain of losing homes and possessions was enough to prompt them to falter and start using drugs again before returning to the program, she said.

“We have lost a few clients. We just literally can’t trace them,” said program counselor Candy Smyers. “There is a real possibility they are using again.”

Then there was the difficulty of resuming the agency’s outpatient service immediately after the quake. Treatment sessions were canceled. Employees were absent.

Smyers recalled the difficulty of maintaining clients’ concentration and sense of security during group sessions that were repeatedly rocked by aftershocks.

She said the earthquake tested one of the founding principles of the agency--that people addicted to drugs and alcohol should apply the coping mechanisms they learn in treatment to their life outside the treatment program. That’s why the agency concentrates on outpatient services, she said.

Castro-Oistad said despite continued difficulties, the agency, which now has a $1.3-million annual budget, will go ahead with a planned open house to celebrate its anniversary.

Administrators are marking the occasion by adding a physician to the program’s staff, and by establishing an annual awards program to recognize outstanding contributions to drug treatment in the San Fernando Valley, he said.