I am writing this review to shed light on the troubling experiences my boyfriend has had with Three Trees Center for Change. As someone who deeply cares for him and has witnessed his struggles with substance abuse, I feel compelled to share our story.
My boyfriend was referred to Three Trees Center for Change by his probation officer, hoping to receive the help he needed to overcome his addiction. Unfortunately, what he encountered was far from supportive or effective.
Three Trees is not really a treatment center at all. They don't even seem like a facility as far as I can tell. My boyfriend is in his seventh week of going there, and all he has ever seen of the building is the front lobby and the bathroom where drug tests are taken. According to his account, the front lobby is where Ms. Cathy Laney, the office manager, will be happy to either read your drug screen herself, take your money, or ask you again what your PO's name is so she can call and report you.
Recently, an incident occurred where I got to meet Ms. Laney myself. My boyfriend has been doing well, not because of Three Trees but because we have taken it upon ourselves to find treatment elsewhere. He had just been called in to see his PO a couple of days prior to take a drug screen, which he passed. Then Three Trees finally called him in for his first random drug screen (after 6 or 7 weeks of classes over video chat), but he was confident he would pass. I was surprised when he came out of the lobby upset. He said he had failed for methamphetamine. We both knew there was some kind of mistake.
I looked it up on Google, which said that not only do false positives occur regularly, but also that the most likely substance to come up on a false positive is methamphetamines. My boyfriend had also just recently started two new medications for his mental health.
He had to go back in to make a payment anyway, so I followed him in. I asked if they could send the sample off to a lab to have it checked, since it could be a false positive. Ms. Laney answered me by saying that she has specific rules she has to follow. She stated, "The state mandates all of this," showing with her hands the 'this' which was apparently her computer and desk. She continued, "If you deviate from that, there is nothing I can do. I have to call your PO and ultimately it is up to them." I said OK. I reiterated that I was asking about them exclusively—did they have a lab to send samples to when there is a discrepancy? She said they do not.
The center's strict policies and refusal to use lab-confirmed testing for potential false positives raise serious concerns about their commitment to genuine rehabilitation. It also makes me question whether they are qualified to be doing this work and what the state actually mandates or requires of them. This seems like something officials should investigate.
Recovery is a challenging journey, and those on this path deserve better support and understanding, not fear and punishment.
