For Immediate Release

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Banyan Treatment Center Joins the Lee County Safe Passage Initiative

DIXON, Ill. — Police Chief Danny Langloss and Lee County Sheriff John Simonton are pleased to announce that the two law enforcement groups have partnered with Banyan Treatment Center in Pompano Beach, Fla. to assist with their new addiction recovery program.

On Sept. 1, Dixon Police and the Lee Country Sheriff’s Department launched The Safe Passage Initiative: Police Giving Hope to Addicts Through the Tools For Recovery, an addiction recovery initiative modeled after the Gloucester, Mass. Police Department’s ANGEL Program that is aimed at encouraging addicts to seek the help of police officers and sheriff’s deputies, who will in turn get them into treatment.

“As soon as Banyan learned about our initiative, they asked to partner with us and flew us to their facility. I could not have been more impressed with the culture, professionalism and service they are offering so many people who are suffering from addiction,” Chief Langloss said. “Their staff and facilities are amazing. Banyan is on the cutting edge, and we could not be more excited to have them as one of our first partners.”

Lee County and Dixon also became the first agencies to partner with The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) in Illinois.

Banyan will provide The Safe Passage Initiative with scholarships and recovery services to participants.

“It’s exciting to see Safe Passage take off and with the generosity of Banyan we are able to place more people into treatment regardless of their financial means or insurance,” Sheriff Simonton said. “We are so thankful for Banyan’s support and look forward to working with them as we move forward.”

Since its inception, Safe Passage has already placed 12 people from Lee County into treatment centers. Three of these people are in treatment with Banyan.

“It is truly and honor to be working with Safe Passage and Lee County to change the way we view and treat addiction in our communities,” said Joe Tuttle, Chief Executive Officer of Banyan Treatment Center. “Our goal is to guide participants through a program that is customized to an individual’s needs to best ensure their recovery lasts a lifetime.”

About Banyan Treatment Center

Banyan tailors its treatment plans to each client’s personal situation, using community and collaboration as the core principles of recovery. The center is accredited by The Joint Commission, the leading accrediting organization for hospitals and other healthcare organizations

A variety of programs are available to overcome addiction, including men and women’s addiction treatment, partial hospitalization, outpatient, intensive outpatient, stabilization, relapse prevention and more.

About P.A.A.R.I.
P.A.A.R.I. was started to support local police departments as they work with opioid addicts. Rather than arrest our way out of the problem of drug addiction, P.A.A.R.I. committed police departments:

• Encourage opioid drug users to seek recovery
• Help distribute life saving opioid blocking drugs to prevent and treat overdoses
• Connect people suffering with opioid addiction with treatment programs and facilities
• Provide resources to other police departments and communities that want to do more to fight the opioid addiction epidemic

P.A.A.R.I. was created by Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello and John Rosenthal to bridge the gap between the police department and opioid addicts seeking recovery.

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