In 1988, my resume was a frightening patchwork of lies and half-truths. Why? Because I needed a job, and my situation felt desperate. I was an alcoholic who had just been told by my rehab counselor to go get a job. I had been using heroin everyday for three straight years , not to mention a panoply of other drugs and alcohol, before I went to treatment. I had been in treatment at Impact House in Pasadena, CA for four months. My work history, if you could even say I had a work history, was terrible. I never graduated from college. Even after attending UCLA and the University of California at Irvine for over six years, I still never pulled it together enough to graduate. In my junior year at UCLA, I used to drive down to South Central on a daily basis to score heroin. In my abnormal psychology class, I wrote a paper on methadone as a treatment for heroin addiction; I had plenty of time to write about such a topic while sitting at the methadone clinic, waiting for my dose.
When it came to finding a job after treatment, a single question reverberated in my head like a pinball in a pinball machine: Who in their right mind would ever hire me? No job history for over two years. No college degree. In terms of recommendations or contacts, my friends and family want nothing to do with me. I had burnt those bridges years ago, and I had let them down a hundred times in the process. In one sense, I did feel a little bit lucky — I did not have a criminal record. A large percentage of alcoholics and addicts leaving treatment have felony criminal records. With the modern resources of the Internet and professional background checks, their pasts continue to haunt them for a very long time. When it came time for me to find a career after I left treatment, I was lucky enough to discover a hidden ace up my sleeve. For some odd reason, while using heroin, I had developed a minor obsession with personal computers, and I had learned how to use and fix them. In 1988, the computer revolution was taking off, and I was able to translate my experience into work. Mind you, I was very lucky, and I thank providence that such an opportunity came my way. Most addicts and alcoholics have a much tougher road to face, and it is getting harder and harder even as you read this account.
Alcoholism and addiction take a tremendous toll on our society. According to a study by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the United States loses about $3 BILLION in productivity while people are in treatment. http://www.drugabuse.gov/EconomicCosts And what happens to alcoholics and addicts after they leave treatment and come face to face with the wreckage of their past. With inconsistent work histories and criminal records, how can they find decent employment? Ask yourself a simple question in order to find an answer: Would you hire the newly sober? When I started Wonderland Treatment Center, I wanted to hire the newly sober to work there. My thinking seemed clear at the time - a recovery center would be the perfect place for the newly sober to work and gain experience. After all, since we are experts in handling addicts and alcoholics, we could handle the given challenges.
Overflowing with excitement in regards to this idea, I asked our clinical team if we could transform it into a reality. Across the proverbial board, every one of our clinicians gave me the exact same answer: “NO WAY!” Taken aback, I asked why, and they explained it was too dangerous to hire the newly sober because of our first priority of serving the best interests of our clients. They went on to describe how the newly sober, since they have such a potent recent history of alcoholism and addiction, suffer from a brain disease. In other words, the “brains” of the newly sober are still healing. It takes up to two years for some addicts and alcoholics to stabilize. If we looked inside the brain, we would see the transformation occur. But it takes time for the newly sober to become stable, healthy and productive.
The general opinion in the recovery community is the newly sober are “likely” to relapse on drugs or alcohol. Many employers of the newly sober regrettably have stories of theft, lies, boundary violations, consistent lateness, and simply not showing up at all. Moreover, many of the newly sober have short attention spans, are overly emotional and react to minor problems in extreme ways. What employer presented with such facts would want to take such a risk with their livelihood? In truth, very few, and there reasons are well understood. Therefore, addicts and alcoholics learn to lie. They do not disclose to the employer that they are newly sober so the employer does not know they have hired someone in early recovery. As a result, if the person in early recovery needs support, the last place they will turn to is to their employer. They won’t tell their employer they need to call their sponsor, go to a 12 Step meeting, see their therapist, and or not overwork to the point of extreme stress. They are afraid that by being honest, they put their precious and hard-earned job at risk. Such a perspective further hurts the employee who could improve their support system if employers were sensitive and aware of the struggles which individuals in early recovery face.
Moreover, despite everything explained above, there are some definite benefits of hiring the newly sober. It is typical for the newly sober to overcompensate in relation to the opportunity to have a job. Many are extremely grateful for the chance to work. They will put in long hours and work hard. Since they know the weight of their own history, they usually will work below the “normal” pay scale in the beginning in order to pay their dues. Of course, there is the danger of work becoming a replacement addiction. With a good support system in place, such dangers can be faced and handled before they become actual problems.
Yes, without question, the process of hiring the newly sober means dealing with certain additional problems and issues. However, it can also lead to an unexpected boon for a company when they hire a capable and dedicated new employee with abilities and skills beyond the expected norm.
The 12 Angels hopes to aid in the resolution of this key question that effects so many parts of our society as a whole: What can we do to improve and aid the challenges of the newly sober in regards to employment? How can we create a working environment where the newly sober can embrace the principles of honesty and open-mindedness? Without question, we all not only want but need our recovering drug addicts and alcoholics to work as productive members of society. If they are unable to become productive, the point and cost of their becoming sober virtually falls by the wayside. We do not want to use our taxes to support of bunch of recovering addicts and alcoholics without jobs. In addition, we are tired of paying for prisons that are overflowing with nonviolent alcoholics and addicts who have become victims of their disease and economic burdens on the rest of us.
By carefully constructing a working strategy for employers and offering them the necessary guidelines and support, the 12 Angels hopes to make the process of hiring the newly sober not only workable, but also ultimately beneficial and positive. After all, down the line, the newly sober often become the long term sober, living their lives by the principles of the 12 Steps and knowing intimately the value of showing up as a “worker among workers.” Such an employee is what most employers dream of having in their business.
If you are employer that is willing to hire the newly sober, the 12 Angels and the recovery community need you. If you would like to discuss opportunities to partner with the 12 Angels in your programs for the newly sober, please contact us at info@12angels.org. We look forward to working with you!
