Four-Star Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Utah Attorney Gen. Mark Shurtleff, Utah First Lady Jeanette Herbert, CRC Health CEO Andy Eckert to Keynote National Conference on Troubled Youth, Park City, Thurs., Oct. 13

Keynote Session 8:30-10 a.m., News Conference 10 a.m., Lodges At Deer Valley, 2900 Deer Valley Drive East, Park City 84060

"PARTNERING FOR HOPE" THREE-DAY  CONFERENCE

PARK CITY, Utah, Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four-Star Gen. (Ret) and former U.S. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff,  Utah First Lady Jeanette Herbert, and CRC Health Group CEO Andy Eckert will join in the keynote session 8:30-10 a.m., with a news conference 10 a.m., at the "Partnering for Hope" three-day national conference on troubled youth, Thursday, October 13 in Park City.  The keynote session and news conference, open to the media, are at the Lodges at Deer Valley, 2900 Deer Valley Drive East, Park City, Utah 84060.  

The national conference brings together influential experts and practitioners from Utah and across  the country and will address problems and solutions related to troubled youth including Autism, Asperger's syndrome, and chemical dependency-substance abuse.  The audience will include therapists, psychologists, social workers, educational consultants, and interventionists. Health issues, counseling, and family systems will be discussed, along with the high numbers involved:   the conference will point to the fact that twenty-three million need substance abuse treatment in America according to HHS but only three million receive it; problems relate not only to illegal drugs but alcohol and the exploding problem of prescription drug abuse.  In Utah, 178,000 need treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and 15,000 receive it.  Over 500,000 children in the U.S. have Autism.  Over 46,000 young people in Utah suffer from serious mental illness.  

In addition, recent surveys indicate that as many as 1 in 5 teens suffers from clinical depression.  As many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, and at least 10% are bullied on a regular basis.  Isolation and depression issues are real for many youth today, in addition to addictions to drugs, alcohol, the internet, and video and online games.

The conference will discuss ways to partner to help individuals and repair broken families with treatment and counseling to restore high functionality, and the moral imperatives and societal benefits of assisting in these environments.  Assessing children and teens and recommendations of the most appropriate treatment plans will be important subjects. Speeches and workshops will occur throughout the three-day conference.  The objective is to bring awareness, solutions, and partnerships to the expanding complex problems faced by troubled youth today. The conference will train and motivate the attendees and inform the public about the need to act to obtain help and the success that can be achieved.  Discussions include what can be done to help as parents, professionals, friends and colleagues.

CRC Health Group, the nation's largest behavioral and substance abuse treatment provider, and its subsidiary, Aspen Education, are hosting the conference.

Contact: Robert Weiner/Richard Mann 301-283-0821, cell 202-306-1200 [email protected]

SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates and CRC Health Group