History of KED

Mission Statement

Raise, manage and distribute funds for the development and support of facilities, community education, and advocacy programs for adolescents and their families in Western New York suffering from alcohol and drug dependency/addiction.

History of the Organization

Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services, Inc. (ADDS) was founded in 1977 to operate inpatient residential and outpatient treatment programs for persons addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Ten years later, the Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services Foundation (ADDSF), commonly known as the Kids Escaping Drugs Campaign was created with the sole purpose to raise funds for the creation and support of adolescent treatment facilities. The need for these facilities has been strongly supported by local and state legislators.

In 1991, Renaissance House accepted its first client, and since then has helped over a thousand teens suffering from chemical dependency. Between 1995 and 2001, we expanded our treatment programs by constructing two community residences and a resource center. The Resource Center is utilized for academic instruction, GED/College preparatory classes and community in-service trainings.

The Need

Substance abuse is an insidious problem. It is estimated that more than 874,000 people in New York State use drugs regularly. Alcoholism affects an estimated 1.9 million New Yorkers. Alcohol related illnesses and injuries represent the fourth leading cause of death in New York claiming 8,300 lives each year. Alcoholism and substance abuse are diseases, which are evident in all parts and levels of society. They contribute to chronic unemployment, crime and disease, with a result impact on State and local health, social services and criminal justice system.

More than 800,000 young people in the state have used cocaine some time during their life. Since the late 1980’s New York State has experienced a surge in cocaine related consequences driven by the popularity of crack. These include increased trends in admission to treatment with cocaine as the primary drug of abuse, arrests involving cocaine charges and births to women using cocaine during pregnancy. In the WNY area the drugs of choice are alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy. Alcohol is the most widely used drug among adolescents, even though it is illegal for youth under the age of 21 to purchase alcohol. Alcohol misuse by youth is linked to numerous other problems including: delinquency, family problems, poor academic achievements, as well as accidents resulting from driving while intoxicated. Numerous studies show that alcohol is the gateway drug for progression to other illicit substances abuse; virtually all-regular users of illicit substance start their pattern of abuse with alcohol.

Because of the growing problem the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (NYS OASAS) recognized the unmet need for residential treatment beds for adolescents. In 2001 OASAS had 100 beds to allocate to agencies throughout the state and designated 16 of the beds to be operated by Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services, Inc. The Foundation Board was asked once again to raise the funds to expand the Renaissance Campus from 46 beds to 62 beds.

In 1992 and 1999 respectively Renaissance House and Stepping Stones constructions debts attributed to ADDSF Inc. were paid off, which allowed the foundation to once again move forward toward development of another after care facility and resource center for the campus. At that time the occupancy rate at Renaissance House for boys was over 90% the average monthly waiting list over the past 2 years was 10 boys so the decision to build a after care facility that would house 16 boys ages 14-20 and a resource center to assist the growing populations on the campus was made.

The Campus Design houses the following:

• Renaissance House – 30 Residential rehabilitation for adolescent boys ages 12-17
• Stepping Stones – 16 Residential rehabilitation for adolescent and young women ages 12-20
• Promise House – 16 Residential rehabilitation for young men ages 18-20
• Academic Center – Classroom and Gymnasium
• Resource Center – ADDSF offices, classroom, and the campus support programs